Viva Vegas
by suallenparker
Summary: Cuddy wakes up with a massive hang-over next to House. Married!
1. The state Nevada, god and Elvis

**Viva Las Vegas**

Disclaimer: All not mine, but as soon as I get rich, I´ll buy it...

Spoiler: none, set somewhere in the middle of season three

Rating: T

Summary: House, Cuddy, Vegas. Much alcohol and an Elvis-chapel... So prepare yourself for the worse ;-P

Feedback: Please!

* * *

**Prologue**

Thursday morning

Half-hearted House limped to his closet, grabbed three of his shirts at random, which seemed neat despite their crinkled state, and plugged them together with one shabby jeans into his carpetbag to his residual stuff, whereof he thought, he might need during his weekend-trip to Vegas. First of all hundred dollar in one-dollar-notes... If Cuddy ordered him to give a lecture, than at least he could thank her for this doubtful honor by forcing her to a strip-club. House smirked.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The state Nevada, god and Elvis**

Three days later, Sunday morning

Carefully Cuddy opened her from sleep still heavy eyes a bit, just to screw them up immediately, as the bright light of Las Vegas´ morning-sun, which shined through a big window of the room, pierced her eyes. Her skull droned as if a full gaggle of building workers would treat it with jackhammers... Groaning she tried to insulate her eyes from the blinding sun with her left hand and flinched, as suddenly something cold metallic, which was wrapped around her ring finger, grazed over her cheek, while she realized at the same time, that the same hand had laid before on something warm and breathing... In a flash she opened her eyes again and starred at her ring finger, which was surrounded from a golden ring, and then at the warm breathing something next to her.

Oh, damn.

House.

Oh. Damn.

Trying to retain her composure, she closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath. _'Stay calm, Lisa',_ she adjured herself. _'Just stay calm...'_

That was the moment, when she realized, that she was naked.

OH. DAMN

_'Forget the calmness...' _hurried she sat up, snatched the loose blanked, which poorly covered her and House´s also naked body, and pressed it protectively against her chest. The building workers, which were still busy working on her skull, protested loudly against this sudden movement and started using diggers.

"Oh damn..." Cuddy mumbled quietly, pulled her legs to her body and leaned her hurting head against her knees. Uneasy she swayed her upper body back and forth, while she tried to find some information about the happenings of last night in her subconscious, but only the building workers answered her questions by causing her more pain. Then House suddenly moved next to her and she froze... _'Please don´t let him wake up.'_ she prayed silently. _'Please don´t let him wake up. Please-'_

"Good morning, my darling sunshine." House sat up grinning.

Instead of answering or scolding him, because he didn´t seem to suffer from a hang over like she did, she presented him her be-ringed left hand without a comment. Scolding him could wait, till her own voice wouldn´t cause such a loud echo in her head...

"Oh damn." House pressed the air out of his lungs with a whoosh. He grabbed her hand with his right and hold it close to his face. "Cuddles, you´re wearing cheap emblazonment..." he gazed at her with wide eyes. "I´m shocked!" He laid his left hand in a melodramatic gesture on his heart.

Cuddy shot him a punitive look and pointed with a slight movement of her head, which she regretted immediately, at his own left hand, which still laid on his bare chest.

Only now House noticed his own ring. "Oh. Damn." As if he had burned himself, he let go of her hand.

A loud cheeping made both flinch. Cursing, House grabbed his cell, which laid blinking and cheeping on his night stand, while Cuddy covered her ears with her hands, a painful expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"House?" a familiar voice came out of his cell.

"No, Wilson, here´s god." House rolled his eyes. "So do you wanna something special?- Other way I hang up now... Got lots of important things to do. Obviating floods, curing cancer, you know... Saving the world, the usual stuff."

"Fine, god, if you´re this busy, please be kind and connect me with House, will ya?" Wilson´s voice was drowned with sarcasm.

"Tell him to call you later." Cuddy said annoyed. The building workers in her head accomplished one hell of a job. Jealous she gazed at House, who obviously didn´t share her pain. Damn him for that.

House waved aside and placed one hand protectively over the mouthpiece, but to late. Wilson already recognized Cuddy´s voice.

"Is Cuddy with you?" Wilson sounded confused. "What is Cuddy doing at ten o´clock in the morning in your room?"

"The question should rather be, why are you calling me at fucking ten o´clock in the morning." House growled in the attempt to distract Wilson, but failed.

"Why is Cuddy in your room?" Wilson dug without mercy.

"Given that the last night was our wedding night, it would´ve been mean to kick her out, like usual, don´t you agree?"

Cuddy moaned hag-ridden, while Wilson gasped for air. "What?" he asked disbelievingly. "Did you just say wedding night?"

House nodded, then remembered that visual telephoning still wasn´t possible, so he added: "Yes, wedding night, Wilson. That´s the night directly after the wedding." Unnerved House rolled his eyes. Likewise a gesture that Wilson missed. "Something you should know bout better than me... You´ve got so much more practice..."

"Wed-ding." Wilson ascertained, as if he would doubt his sense of hearing. Or House´s sanity. "Should that mean, that you´re married to Cuddy?"

Again House wasted a cynical eye-rolling on Wilson. "Yes, Wilson, married. To Cuddy. And that in front of the state Nevada, god and Elvis. Whereas some people believe that the latter are the same..."

Beaten, Cuddy buried her face in her hands and groaned. House glanced at her frowning, before he turned to Wilson again, who was still silent from shock. "I need to hang up..." House explained dryly and arched a brow. "My dear wife needs my full attention, if you know what I mean..." Without leaving Wilson time to reply, he shut his cell and laid it back on the night stand. Carefully he touched Cuddy´s shoulder with his right hand. "Cuddy, are you all right?"

Stunned Cuddy lifted her head and fixated House with an angry look. "You mean besides the fact, that I woke up with a massive hang-over and married to my most annoying employee?" she hissed as loud as her hurting scull allowed her. Her eyes went small. "Why don´t you have a hang-over?"

"The benefit of long-lasting drug-abuse... The body adjusts to everything." House shrugged, snatched his Vicodin from the night stand, swallowed two pills dry and then handed the bottle to Cuddy.

She grumbled something, House couldn´t understand, swallowed one Vicodin, looked around the room searching, before she stood up, the thin blanked carefully wrapped around her body. She took her purse, which laid in front of the door, partly covered by her bra, which she lifted up also, blushing hardly.

House observed her smirking. "Darling, you don´t need to get dressed... Just let us enjoy our new marriage a bit..."

Cuddy considered shortly, if she should throw her purse after him, but then decided to better look for her cell in it. "I´m not dressing myself..."

"Good!"

She threw an old, damaged ball-pen at him. "I´m searching for my cell..."

"Cell?"

"To call my attorney..."

"Attorney?"

"About the annulment..."

"An annulment after not even a day? Slow down, Britney..."

Cuddy glared at him over her shoulder and took her cell out of her purse. "You don´t honestly believe, that I´ll stay married to you."

"Why not? Don´t you love me any more?" Again House laid his hand over his heart. "I thought we had something special." he whined, then snorted arrogantly. "Maybe you missed the fact, but I just told Wilson, that we´re married, so the whole hospital knows " he glanced at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "NOW too... Do you really wanna tell them tomorrow that we´re already divorced?- Won´t seem much professional for a dean of medicine, right?"

Thoughtfully Cuddy let her cell sink and nibbled on her bottom lip. House was right, as unwillingly she had to admit it. Nobody would take her serious, if it would get public, that the married her worst employee, while being drunk. Damn! Again. "And what do you suggest?" she arched a brow. Just because she agreed with him, didn´t mean that she had to show him that. "Just staying married, maybe?"

"Why not? If Britney and Kevin and Jessica and Nick could make it, we´ll be just fine..."

"Both pairs are divorced, House."

"Yes, but first after being married for years! Let´s say, we´ll stay married for a half year, to retain your honor, and then we´ll explain, that we drifted apart, or I just married you to push my own carrier... Whichever you prefer." He grinned self-satisfied.

Suspiciously Cuddy frowned. "And what´s in this for you, House?"

"You mean except the warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach, you get, when you generously help fellow human beings?"

"The only thing, that gives you a warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach, is a fresh muffin..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Cuddy..." House shook his head with pity. "So cynical at your happiest day in your life?"

"House..." Her voice sounded admonitory.

"Then even the warm feeling you get, when the whole male hospital staff is jealous of you, cause you screw the hot boss..." he shrugged his shoulders relaxed.

"I. Won´t. Sleep with you, House."

"Again."

"Excuse me?"

"You won´t sleep with me again, Cuddy. Or what do you think, we did last night?" He wriggled his eye brows suggestively.

"No sex, House." Cuddy repeated sternly, while she tried to repress the images of her and House naked on this bed, whereof she couldn´t tell if they were memories or just fantasies. She needed to discover, what really happened last night... She remembered, that she and House had gone to a fundraiser, a handsome smudgy rich man had organized... The same man hadn´t left her side the whole evening and tried in an inappropriate way to make a move on her...

"Will you tell that the male staff too?" House interrupted her thoughts.

Cuddy snorted. "That would crash our camouflage.- I also don´t discuss my sex life with my employees..."

"How should I know? At least you married one of your employers after getting drunk too..."

Cuddy ignored his comment and started to collect her clothes, which were randomly distributed in the room. House watched her in silence.

"If you won´t sleep with me, will you pay for my whores?" he asked then. "As a kind of matrimonial charge-back?"

"No."

"But we´ll stay married?"

"Yes." Cuddy growled and snatched her slip, which laid underneath House´s boxer-shorts, and blushed. Somehow this seemed like a bad omen for her marriage... She had a feeling, that House would arrogate a lot more from her for keeping up their camouflage than not talking bout her non-existing sex-life...

House smirked as he watched her gorgeous ass swinging from side to side in front of him. "Great, then I call Wilson and tell him to get us an espresso-machine as a wedding gift..."

* * *

I know, I know... Yesterday I wrote into my profile that I´m to busy studying for writing anything and now I post a long new chapter... I´m SUCH a weak person!- I really tried to work on my uni-projects, but Huddy was stronger than me :-D

So please be a doll and remunerate my lack of study-disciple with lots of reviews, so I know that the time it took me to write this wasn´t completely wasted... ;-P

PS: I´ll give everyone who reviews a preview on following chapters as a little 'thank you' (Which only proves how desperate I am for feedback... I already bride you to get some ;-P)


	2. Airport and StripClub

**Chapter 2: Airport and Strip-Club**

Monday morning

"May I help you, Sir..." a fat man, who had observed Cuddy for a few minutes, asked House politely, as he already bent downward to House´s bag wanting to put it on the baggage conveyor belt of the Las Vegas´ airport. Cuddy, who stood next to House and laid her case on the baggage conveyor belt by herself, chuckled gleefully as she watched that bizarre situation which played out in front of her. House glared at her, placing his cane firmly at the top of his bag, which caused the stranger to stand up not able to succeed. He looked at House in question.

House faked a smile, before he answered with perfect false kindness in his voice: "That won´t be necessary, Sir... my wife will handle that for me." Demonstratively he took Cuddys elbow and pulled her closer to him.

"Your...?" the stranger blinked puzzled.

Now it was House, who smirked. "Yes, my wife." He stressed the word 'wife' with pleasure. "So you can stop trying to impress her by helping a poor cripple..."

The complexion of the man was suddenly very similar to that tawdry dark-red neckerchief which was noosed around his plump collar. Abashed he stuttered something House couldn´t understand before he fled.

Annoyed, Cuddy pulled back her elbow. "You´re really enjoying this, right?"

House shrugged his shoulders causally. "I´m just trying to prepare myself for playing my role as your husband..." He distributed his case on the baggage conveyor belt by his own hand but regretted that thoughtless action immediately. As the resultant pain that shot through his leg like fire mirrored itself in his eyes, Cuddy placed gentle hand on his arm worried. "House?"

Angry about himself, he bit his bottom lip. He hated that pitiful expression in her eyes.... He couldn´t stand that 'I-need-to-save-the-cripple'-look. He didn´t want her to see him as someone who needed to be saved, he wanted her to see him as an equal... Frustrated he gazed around the airport, searching for distraction. Then his look grazed a couple, which stood near by the two them in front of one of those many souvenir-shops obviously fishing for some postcards and a sudden idea enlightened his mind. Full of anticipation, he smirked, before he turned to Cuddy and watched her, frowning slightly.

Suspiciously she arched a brow. "What?"

"Hm..." Thoughtfully, House ran his hand over his chin. "You should also try to prepare yourself for your role... We should use our time left expediently." He looked back at the couple and limped towards the souvenir-shop. "Hurry up, let´s observe this couple... Maybe you´ll find some inspiration..."

"You mean that old guy and that girly in that mini-skirt?" Still suspicious, she followed him.

"You should wear skirts like that also... Although I definitely prefer your kind of tops... more cleavage..."

Cuddy twisted her eyes unnerved. "And for what role should that expressive insight prepare me for? The slutty school girl?"

House leered. "I doubt, that you need to prepare yourself for that role, Cuddy. You honestly don´t need research for that one, right?"

"Research?"

"Yes, research... If we would observe other married couples, we might learn how to play our roles better...", he explained, suppressing a grin.

Cuddy snorted. "Those two are never married... Either she´s his daughter or his lady-love..."

"That´s a massive inspiration!" His eyes brightened enthusiastically.

"I´m not paying for a lady-love either, House."

"You are heartless..."

"That´s why we made such a great match, darling..."

Confused, House stopped limping and looked at Cuddy. "Darling?"

"Doing some research too..." Cuddy answered. "It would seem odd, if I would still call you by your last name, now that we´re married..."

"Then call me Greg..."

"Greg... Hm..." Cuddy pretended to think about it. "I still prefer 'Darling'..." she smiled gleefully. "It suits our great love so much better..." Her smile got wider. "Or how about Sugar? Muffin? Honey?

With a nauseated expression House turned around and limped towards the souvenir-shop again. Meanwhile that couple was gone to another shop.

Smirking, she went after him. "Wait for me, my heart..."

"Perfect", House growled. "You call me your heart and I call you snow queen... It´ll be awesome..."

Cuddy laughed.

* * *

"Darling, it´s so nice from you to let me sit by the window..." Cuddy explained with big eyes, including flattering eye lashes, and placed her left hand at his arm nearly tenderly.

"I should throw you out of that window...", House growled quietly and tried to adjust himself in his seat, his frustration growing. If he had only been a bit faster, that precious window seat would be his... But as soon they had the permission to step on board, Cuddy had taken the advantage of having two healthy legs and had rushed past him to the window seat... And now she was making fun out of him. She was having much too much fun for his taste... He gritted his teeth, which caused Cuddy to smile brightly. They had been flying now for an hour and House was still sulking like a little boy...

Unnerved House turned to one of the stewardesses and ordered two double whisky.

Cuddy knitted her eye brows. "I don´t like whisky, House."

"Therefore you drank a lot of it on Saturday..." He glanced at her deridingly. "Besides I wasn´t going to share with you... I just ordered a double, because they don´t make quadruple in airplanes."

She frowned.

"What?" The right corner of his mouth bent upwards slightly. "The liver grows with it´s duties, right?"

Shaking her head, she let go of his arm and starred out of the window. Underneath the plane she saw some small clouds. 'W_eird_', she thought. Those clouds looked nearly like a female body... A sudden memory-fragment hit her without warning.

* * *

Two days before, saturday evening

"Is it hot in here or is this just you?" a male voice whispered suddenly close to her ear and nearly made her dropping her champagne-glass. Annoyed she turned around to the voice, which belonged to a huge handsome middle aged blond male, whom Cuddy identified as the rich edificial-mogul who had organized this fundraiser... The key-word here was definitely '_rich_'. He already had tried to make a hit on her at the last three fundraisers where they had met... Also with such dumb patters like today, but he also had made a generous donor for her newest project...

Cuddy suppressed the urge to slap him for his dense verdict, concentrated herself on his massive assets and even raised a smile, while she tried to remember his name...

"Ian McBride!" Her voice sounded honestly delighted . Cuddy giggled as if his stupid chat-up line had been a charming joke. Her own stagecraft never ceased to amaze her... Yet she only needed to hope, that she´d remembered the right name...

"Lisa Cuddy!" He grinned and starred at down the low neckline of her black dress, his hands caressing her arms. The name must´ve been correct... "So, how is the most beautiful woman in this room feeling?"

Flummery... Either that name had definitely been his or her breasts had hypnotized him so much, that he wasn´t even able to remember it any longer... Cuddy tried hard to not roll her eyes. "I´m fine, thanks for asking." She smiled brightly. "Although I´m a bit worried bout the financial aspects of our new premature-infant-aid..." If she already needed to be nice to his money... uhm... him... needed to be nice to _him_ then she could at least try to cash in on his fascination for her breasts... Her smile seemed worried now as well. Damn, she was good!- She could still start a carrier as an actress in "Prescription Passion" in case of she would ever be fired because of House´s escapades. Probably her first job, that would bring her House´s respect... That thought made her grin truly for the first time within hours.

"Worried?" Ian dug deeper, his left hand now playing with one of her curls which had escaped her elegant updo, while his right arm wandered from her arm to her back. Finally he teared his gaze away from her breasts. The ruttish sparkle in his eyes made her feel uncomfortable. "What would you think of going to a quieter place where we would be able discuss your worries further? We could have a little dinner too." His right hand fondled her ass. "Wanna get some dessert, Gorgeous?"

"Don´t think so.", a dominant male voice replied sharply. Hurriedly Cuddy broke free from Ian, starring at House, who had suddenly appeared right behind Ian out of nowhere. He looked so stern in his plain black suit... So serious. That impression was amplified by his tense face. Cuddy could nearly her him gritting his teeth. His eyes, with whom he fixated Ian, were cold as ice. "Her ass is fat enough." He gazed at Cuddy and his eyes got softer. "Not that I wouldn´t love her ass..." He faced Ian again. His voice cut as sharp as a scalpel. "And now please excuse us." He grabbed Cuddy´s nearly empty glass of champagne out of her hand and pressed it into Ian´s. "But my 'gorgeous' boss and I have more important stuff to do than to beg for some money... Like saving lives." To Cuddy he said: "My team just called, they have an emergency..." then he turned around and strode to exit.

"An emergency?", Cuddy asked as soon as she caught up with him.

"There was none... That stupid scumbag just pissed me off...". House explained cranky.

A bit speechless Cuddy followed him.

"What?" Suspiciously he arched a brow.

"Nothing..." She cleared her throat. "I´m just not used to you being noble..."

House snorted. "You should know better... As if I ever would allow anyone to pick on my three best friends..."

Bewilderment mirrored itself in Cuddy´s face.

"I meant your twins..." House explained and let his glanced at her breasts. "And of course your gorgeous ass."

Cuddy snorted. "Of course..."

He looked up again. "So what?" He grinned. "Are you, your ass and your twins ready to leave?"

* * *

"I actually didn´t thought about going to a strip-bar...", Cuddy growled half an hour later and reluctantly sat down next to House on an old wood stool in front the stage. She already regretted, that she had been so naïve to follow him... She should´ve known better...

A blonde with big breasts was just dancing on the stage, wearing only some tiny, _tiny_ pants.

"Shame." House replied, nibbling on his beer, which just had been served together wis a glass of champagne for Cuddy by a nearly naked waitress, and gave the waitress twenty of his one-dollar-notes. "For my taste, you should think about strip-bars more often..." His gaze wandered to her cleavage.

Sighing Cuddy placed a finger under his chin and forced him to look up. "The naked breasts are over there." She nodded to the stage.

"But-"

"I won´t undress myself, House..."

"Sure?- Even if I tell you, that I´m having enough one-dollar-notes to make a C out of your B-cup?"

Cuddy shook her head in amusement. "Not for some lousy one-dollar-notes..."

"Kill-joy..."

"Tightwad."

"That´s not true!", House defended himself. "At least I payed eight dollars for an one-dollar-beer and whole fucking twelve dollars for a ridiculously small glass champagne."

"You´re right, you´re like mother Teresa... Always giving and giving and never taking anything back...", Cuddy replied cynically.

House chuckled. "Therefore I´m nearly a saint, so it couldn´t be such a sin, if you´d undress yourself for me..."

* * *

Monday morning

Already the third peanut joined the two others, which awaited it in Cuddy´s decollete and interrupted Cuddy´s memories rudely.

"Cut that crap!", she scolded House who already targeted her neckline with the fourth peanut. Unnerved the picked the nuts out her top.

"But I´m bored!", he whined.

"Your problem..."

"It´s not, because this is all your fault...", House pouted, eating the fourth peanut. "If you´d let me sit at the window, looking at the landscape would´ve distracted me... Now all I can do is to distract me otherwise... Like throwing peanuts at your cleavage, for example."

Stunned, Cuddy shook her head. "You´re so childish."

He smirked. "That´s the youthful charm, you fell in love with, snow queen."

* * *

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing, people. I´m really grateful, cause feedback's the best to make one write faster ^-^

I hope, you enjoyed this chapter too... Please be a doll and drop me a few lines (Yes, I know, I´m begging again... But what am I supposed to do? - I´m just weak, when it comes to my writing... wasted another weekend writing this instead of making scribbles for my university...) I will send a little preview to everyone who reviews (Yes, I´m also doing that bribe-thing again :-P)


	3. Arrival

**Chapter 3: Arrival **

Monday evening, back in New Jersey

Exhausted from the long flight and totally annoyed by House, who had tried to drive her nuts the whole flight until she finally gave in and switched places with him, Cuddy went ahead to the exit of the airport, holding her case in her left hand and her right hand dug in her pocket. House followed her a few feet behind. Cuddy gritted her teeth. She really succeeded in marrying the most childish jerk, and while being _drunk _nonetheless... how cliche. Such is life.

"It´s not nice to let the cripple fall behind, you know?" House muttered behind her and nearly crashed into her as she suddenly stopped right in front of him without any warnings.

"What the hell...?" Stunned, Cuddy dropped her case.

"What the hell yourself..." House growled. "What are you..." He cut off his sentence, as he glanced over Cuddy's shoulder, looking at the reason for her stopping.

Near the exit stood Wilson, together with all those other people who awaited the arrival of their friends and loved ones. He stood next to an elder man, who was dressed in a chauffeur uniform and carried a big sign with the inscription 'Mr. Brunner'. A fact that totally failed to touch House´s emotion. The fact that Wilson himself carried a big sign with the inscription 'Mr. and Mrs. Huddy' on the contrary confused him a lot.

"What the hell...?" he repeated Cuddy´s words and went to his friend frowning.

Again Cuddy was a bit faster than him and was already being hugged by the smiling Wilson as House caught up to them. As soon as Wilson noticed him, he let go of Cuddy and raised his arms. "House, old pal!" Wilson grinned jovially. "Come and give me a hug..."

"What´s that sign supposed to mean?" he asked rudely instead of a greeting and dropped his case with a loud bang while he eluded Wilson's embrace.

"This one?" Wilson replied innocently, picked up the poster, which he had laid on Cuddy´s bag before and grinned some more.

"No, the one for Hoke Colburn.°" Annoyed House turned to the guy, who still stood next to Wilson and stared at them. "We´re obviously not Mr. Brunner, so look for him somewhere else."

The chauffeur looked at House a bit choked, turned around and left. Waving her head Cuddy poked House´s arm.

"Ouch!" Pouting House rubbed his arm and glared at Cuddy. ""Why did you do that?"

"Why did you do this?" Cuddy gestured at the leaving chauffeur. "Why must you always make a jerk out of yourself?"

"Glad to see that your marriage didn´t soften you..." Wilson chuckled, but regretted it immediately as House and Cuddy glared at him. To piss them both off was really a huge health risk. Into the bargain Cuddy took that very moment to remember the sign again, which Wilson still held in his hands.

"So, what´s this sign supposed to mean, Wilson?" Cuddy asked with a stern expression on her face that didn´t tolerated any tergiversations.

"I hoped you would ask..." Wilson couldn´t stop smirking... If he had to die soon, he could at least enjoy every moment last... "I thought that could be your new last name..."

"Huddy?" Doubting, Cuddy arched a brow.

"Yeah." Wilson nodded enthusiastically. "A double name seemed too long... I also had 'Couse' in mind, but 'Huddy' has the nicer sound..."

"Huddy?" Cuddy repeated and looked at him, as if he went insane.

Arrogantly House looped his arm around Cuddy´s shoulders. " We´re an old-fashioned couple, Cuddy will use my last name of course..."

She snorted disbelievingly and tried to get loose. "How should that work? Wanna call me 'House' all the time then? You couldn´t even manage to not call me 'Cuddy' now..."

"Pfft... I´ll just gonna call you by your nick name." House replied relaxed, pulled her a bit closer and smiled at her brightly. "My little snow queen..."

Wilson laughed.

* * *

Half an hour later they sat in Wilson´s car on their way home. House sat in the backseat behind Cuddy who sat next to Wilson at the front seat, which House kicked against since he stepped into the car.

"Why did you marry House, Cuddy?" Wilson asked suddenly, still focusing on the road.

"Excuse me?" Maybe if she acted like she didn´t hear him, he would switch targets.

"I wanna know why you married House..." Cuddy´s hope faded. "I already heard House´s explanation yesterday over the phone," Wilson added. "And now I would like to hear yours..."

Cuddy gulped nervously. Now the time has come... The first ordeal for the play called 'The marriage between the beauty and the beast'.

"Well..." Cuddy cleared her throat. "House and I had known each other for a long time and I wanted a family..." she ended lamely.

"Now I get it..." Wilson smirked. "You failed to get a kid, so you married one.... A big cranky one..."

"Hey!" House spoke up offended. "That kid is attendant, so behave yourself.- Sweet cheeks, tell him to be nicer to your husband..."

Cuddy tried to stab him with her glare over the rear mirror.

Amused Wilson waved his head. "House already told me that you married while being totally drunk, Cuddy..." he admitted.

In hope that direct eye-contact would´ve a more deadly effect, Cuddy faced House. "Why didn´t you tell me?"

"And miss all the fun?" House made wide eyes. "Honestly Cuddles, I thought you´d know me better..."

He leered at her sassily, making Cuddy feel the strong urge to support her death glare with bare hands... But decided then that a dead husband was even worse than a divorced one. Annoyed, she gritted her teeth before she lost herself in the imagination of herself strangling House. Or drowning him. Or burning him... Hey, dreaming was still allowed!

"Where will you live?" Wilson interrupted her wishful thinking.

"In our apartments, maybe?" House´s voice was drowned in sarcasm. "Just because you marry someone, doesn´t mean that you lose your home... That´s what happens, when you get divorced."

"Wow, you´re so funny." Wilson rolled his eyes. "But if you two really wanna play that 'happy marriage'-thingy, living separated would crash the illusion..."

Damn. Cuddy nibbled at her bottom-lip. Wilson was right... She couldn´t believe that she missed that important detail.

House reacted more relaxed, like it seemed he already had thought bout that problem. "We will live at Cuddy´s..." he explained. "I can sleep in her guest room and she can´t mess up my apartment... I just need to get a few things out of my apartment before."

Smiling bravely, Cuddy nodded and tried to look like she wouldn´t be surprised.

* * *

"I have a little something for you..." Wilson said smiling as he, House and Cuddy arrived at Cuddy´s apartment two hours later and took something out of his glove box.

Suspicious the newly weds observed him from a save distance, standing in front of Cuddy´s door.

"Fast, open the door, Cuddles," House murmured. "If it's a grenade, we need a fast escape..."

"Funny, House..." Wilson replied dryly stepped out the car and went towards them holding a small packet in his hand.

"Damn, Cuddy, hurry up. He´s coming..."

"I repeat: Funny, House." Wilson growled and pressed the packet into Cuddy's hand.

"Thank you, Wilson." Cuddy said sweetly and shot House a glare, while she opened the packet. Within she found a package coffee beans. Cuddy looked at Wilson in question.

He just shrugged his shoulders, grinning brightly. "Espresso beans..." he pointed out. "The espresso machine will follow as soon as you both survive at least two months of your marriage..."

* * *

Sleepy, Cuddy blinked against the unsteady light of the running TV, whereon the third stupid teenie lost his life, and with all 'great' horror flicks, there was the huge man with the mask and the chainsaw, and also the _totally realistic_ lose of five liters of that liquid falsity that was supposed to be blood...

It had been a very long day... First that long exhausting flight with House back to Jersey. Then Wilson, who found his inner-clown today. And then she had to go shopping because her fridge had been awfully empty. Of course she went without House... He would´ve only incite a rebellion in front of the cashpoint, because he wouldn´t receive his sweets/alcohol/porn or whatever else he could imagine to make her miserable... So she had placed him in front of her TV before she left, hoping he wouldn´t ruin her financially by buying stupid nonsense via shopping-TV... As she came home, he had luckily only managed to buy two very expensive knife-sets... As soon as these would be delivered, she would use one set to stab him and then she would give the other to her father as a christmas gift...

And now she sat next to House on her sofa, watching TV... Cuddy yawned and stood up. "I'm going to bed..." She made her way to her bedroom.

"Ok." House switched off the TV stood up too and followed her.

Frowning Cuddy turned around. "What are you doing?"

"I'm following you."

"Sure, but _why_ are you following me?"

"You were the one who wanted to go to bed..."

She put her hands on her hips. "Yes... But _why_ are you following me, House?"

He rolled his eyes. "I´m not just following you... I´m _accompanying_ you."

"No, you´re not." Cuddy replied sternly. "_You_´re gonna sleep in the guest room... Your words, House."

"But Cuddy, that was just to keep my reputation in front of Wilson... He still believes I´m a virgin, you know?"

Grinning, Cuddy snorted. "And that you had only 'discussions about the weather' with all those whores?"

"He thinks that I get all my exchange advices from them..." He grinned too.

"You will still sleep in the guest room..."

"But it´s so lonesome there..."

"You´re a big boy... You´ll survive..." She turned around again.

"Can I invite some lady-friends?"

"Won´t be necessary... I bought you a little something, while I was shopping." She stifled a smirk.

"A present? Cuddy, you hot, sexy minx." Hurried, House went to the guest room just to return ten minutes later, looking crestfallen and holding a cheap Barbie-doll in his right hand. "What am I supposed to do with that doll, Cuddy?"

Cheerfully Cuddy sat herself up and laid the book, in which she had read before, aside. "That´s not just a doll, House." She grinned from one ear to the other. "That´s a _plastic_-doll. I thought you would appreciate this little gesture of conjugal love..."

"Sweet, Cuddy. Really sweet." House growled.

"Just like me." she fluttered her eyelashes. "Better adjust yourself to her. She´s the only plastic-doll with the permission to be in my apartment..."

"You´re so cruel."

"Right. Cruel, hot and sexy." She nodded her head in agreement and slid back under her covers. "And now close the door."

He stepped into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"Close the door from the _outside_, House."

Cranky House opened the door again. "You´re such a snow queen, Cuddles." She heard him mumble before the door closed behind him.

Self satisfied she switched off the light.

* * *

ADDITION

°Name of the chauffeur from 'Driving Miss Daisy'

THANK YOU

Thank you, Melissa for being such a wonderful and fast beta.

Thank you Di-Bee, for listening to my newest ideas for this story and for letting me whine about it too and for encouraging me so much and for many other things... Big hugs!

and thank you all for reading, alerting and favoriting (is this a word?- I don´t know, but you get the idea :D) and reviewing to this story. A special thanks to jodiesto for even reviewing to my german version and for telling me to hurry up translating the chapters... You kinda owe it to her that I post this chapter so 'soon' ;-P

BRIBE

yeah, bribe again. :) if you review, I send you a little preview on chapter four. I promise you, it´ll be worth it :D


	4. Good morning sunshine

So here you go... the fourth chapter is up as promised!- Hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Good morning, sunshine!**

Tuesday morning

Still sleepy and desperate for a cup of coffee, Cuddy came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing one of her favorite outfits, trailing down the stairs when suddenly she heard strange noises coming out of her living room.

She found her head-diagnostician, the infamous medical _genius_; in front of the TV, some red gummy bears in one hand, the remote control in his other, with his naked feet laying on the table, which wasn't at all surprising if you knew him outside of work. He wore one of his knitted shirts and a pair of old jeans. His cane leaned against the sofa right next to him. "House?"

"Cuddy?" He didn´t even looked up from the TV; his concentrated gaze was fully on Road Runner, which zoomed past barren landscapes with a crazy tempo to accompany the chase, while Wile E. Coyote exploded with a loud bang behind...

He laughed at that sight and threw three of those delicious red gummy bears into his mouth at once.

"Why the hell are you watching cartoons so early in the morning?"

Now he looked at her. "Because they don't show porn so early in the morning?" He said with a wry smile, popping two more red gummy bears in his mouth.

"Fine, then you won't miss anything when I do this." Cuddy took the remote control from House and switched off the TV. "Better help me make breakfast..." Her gaze fell on three or four empty packages crumbled on the table, with several yellow, green, orange and white gummy bears either sitting, lying on its side, or glued together and sticky.

That couldn´t be true! Warningly, Cuddy arched a brow. "And stop eating only the red gummy bears." She scowled at him, before she turned around and went to the kitchen.

"Why?" House called after her. "Do they feel neglected?

"No, only discriminated."

Grinning, House grabbed his cane and followed her. "If we're making eggs, I want a white and a brown one... Don't want to spread the discrimination..."

He nearly had arrived in the kitchen as Cuddy´s phone, which laid directly in front of him at the counter, started to ring. Without thinking he reached out for it.

"House, what are you doing?" Cuddy asked sharply.

"Ehm... Where I come from we call it 'answering the phone'. I don´t know how you-"

"I know how my phone works."

He took the phone in his other hand. "Then why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you to answer it, that's why."

"But that's silly." He frowned. "You could have just told me not to answer it, instead of asking what I was doing."

"Fine." Cuddy rolled her eyes and raised out her hand to grab the phone. "House, please don´t answer my phone."

He pressed the loud ringing phone against his chest. "Why? Are you afraid I might embarrass you?"

"Of course not. I of all people would know how much you _hate_ to humiliate other people." She fluttered her eyelashes. "Also this call will be for me anyway..." She stalled to answer her phone, her hand opened, then closed again.

"Tsk, tsk, Cuddy. This is probably the hospital with an emergency. And if it is an emergency, you would call me after hanging up anyway... So I can save us some time and answer the call now..." House pressed the answer button. "Hello, you're connected with Mr. and Mrs. Cuddy´s Castle of Love, you're speaking to Mr. Cuddy, how may I help you?"

Sighing, Cuddy buried her face in her hands, seeking temporary solace until House handed her the phone without any explanations. She watched him suspiciously as she answered it: "Hello?"

Damn.

Oh. Damn.

Horrified she pressed one hand against the speaker box. "It's my mother!" she whispered in shock.

"I know." House replied dryly.

"What should I tell her?"

"I don't know."

"Really helpful..." Cuddy scowled at him and took a deep breath before she could bring herself to talk to her mother. "Hello Mom... Yes, that was House talking, yes..." Nervously she drummed her manicured nails against the kitchen counter. Intently House looked at her. "...Yes, he said... Yes Mom, that's what he said... Actually it´s a real funny story, you know..." Her laugh sounded a bit hysterical. "I married... Yes, House... I married Greg House.... In Vegas..."

Cuddy went silent for a while, just listened to her mother, while she pressed her free hand against her now aching forehead. "Mother, please... It all happened so sudden... Yes, Mom, he..." She bit down her bottom lip and looked House in the eye. "He makes me happy..."

House relieved her of the telephone. "Mrs. Cuddy?..." Begging, Cuddy placed a hand on his chest. He nodded assuredly then smiled gently. "Yes, you're speaking to the husband of your daughter..." In his voice there was a tenderness that Cuddy had noticed before only on really rare occasions. "I know, all this happened really fast... I agree with you totally, Ma'am." His gaze avoided hers. "Your daughter is absolutely the best thing that could ever happen to a man..." Cuddy´s heart skipped a beat because of his words. She took away her hand from his upper body. "We would love to have dinner with you, Ma'am..." Agitated all of a sudden, Cuddy grabbed his arm and shook her head. "...but right _now_ we´re really busy... Yes... Yes, we will call you... Yes, Goodbye, Mrs. Cuddy." He hung up.

A few moments they got lost in each others eyes. Drowning in the blue.

"House, that was..." Cuddy lacked of any words.

"What?" he asked cooly, all tenderness gone. Cynically he arched a brow. "Just because I can't lie to my own mother doesn´t mean that I'm not able to lie to other mothers..." He limped past her to the coffee machine.

Cuddy cleared her throat. "We need to hurry up or we'll be too late to work..."

House faced her again. "Why we?"

"Because our shifts start at the time time?"

"I repeat: Why _we_?"

She rolled her eyes. "And I repeat: Because our-"

"Jada jada jada..." House cut in rudely. "But I'm never on time, so why break old traditions?"

"Well, now you're my husband..." Cuddy explained. "It would really damage my image if my own husband would-"

"Pfft, Cuddles." House interrupted again. "Do you wanna make them believe that just being married to you makes me a better employee? Please, let us stay _realistic_..."

"Fine." Cuddy answered snippy. "If you want..."

He smiled in victory.

"... it the hard way, I´m gonna call _your_ mom..."

* * *

An hour later they were in the parking lot of the Princeton Plainsboro heading towards the elevators, as one of the many young doctors from the emergency station joined them. House started rolling his eyes even before the doctor could open his mouth.

"Dr. Cuddy!" the doctor greeted her cheerfully.

"Good Morning, Dr. Loxley." Cuddy gifted him with a friendly smile, which House recognized as quite morose.

"Good to see you, Dr. Cuddy..." Dr. Loxley spoke up. "I've got a question-"

Just as House had suspected it... They hardly arrived and they were already bothered by incapable butchers.

"Dr. Cuddy will not waste her precious time explaining to you _once _again how to cure a flu..." House cut in rudely and pulled Cuddy into the elevator as the door opened.

The doctor wanted to step in the lift as well, but House locked the door up with his cane. "I heard that taking the stairs is good for thinking..." he explained arrogantly. "Try it and hope for the best..."

The young doctor gulped dryly and glanced at Cuddy, but she showed no reaction. So he decided to continue the chat with his pretty boss later preferrably when that cranky head diagnostician wouldn't be there to interrupt them, and turned around to head to the stairs.

Stunned, her hands on her hips, Cuddy faced House as soon as Dr. Loxley was out of earshot. "Wow, you're so jealous..."

"I am-"

"In time?" Wilson asked and slipped into the lift. "Indeed, House-- Great job, Cuddy!"

Cuddy grinned. "Thank you! But he's not only on time, he´s also jealous..."

House twisted his eyes. "I. Am. Not. Jealous."

"He is..." Cuddy and Wilson shared an amused look.

House snorted. "Don't flatter yourself... I'm not jealous. I'm possessive..."

"And being possessive is not being jealous?" Doubtfully, Wilson watched him.

"Nooo..." Assured once again that he was the only intelligence human around, House waved his head slowly. "I would be jealous if I cared about your feelings for the guy... Being possessive means only that I can't stand other guys playing with what's mine..."

"What's _yours_?" Cuddy arched a brow.

"Oh, I don't know. My video games, my cane, _my, uh_ wife." House shrugged his shoulders. "Just like _my_ ball or _my_ game-boy or those other things I said... I can't stand it when others touch what´s mine..."

The elevator stopped. In silence Cuddy and Wilson stepped out.

"What?" House wanted to know and hurried to follow them. "I'm just trying to be in character... Would it be suspicious if I would be more possessive about my game boy than about my wife?"

Cuddy snorted. "Then you must prepare yourself for that special role for at least two years..." She hurried up and left House and Wilson alone.

Wilson sighed. "You're so cute together!" He fluttered his eyelashes and smirked.

"Shut up..." House growled.

* * *

Keyed up, Cameron, Chase and Foreman straighten up on their chairs, as House enters his office looking extremely cranky. "What's up?" he asked them scowling.

"You're married," Cameron replied and looked him in the eye, her chin arched forward. "With Cuddy."

"What should that be? A disease or a diagnosis?"

"It's a fact..."

"Oh my god!" House called out, gazing first at his ring on his left hand and then at Cameron. "You´re right!- Cameron, you´re a genius."

Cooly she handed him a nice looking gift which had been placed at the table in front of her all the time. "Here," she said. "From us..."

"Wow, a genius who distributes gifts!- I like that." Grinning he took the present and opened it impatiently. He peered strangely at the 'gift'---arching his brow in distaste. "A med kit?"

Unaffected, Foreman shrugged his shoulders. "First we wanted to give you a journey to Tahiti, but then we decided that you would need the med kit more..." Chase couldn't help not to smirk at Foreman's comment.

"Why did you marry Cuddy?" Cameron suddenly burst out.

"We were in Vegas, we were drunk and Elvis gave us a cut in price for the wedding... We were the thousandth couple he married, so..."

Choked, Cameron starred at him. "Are you serious?"

"Of course not." He twisted his eyes deridingly. "We sat together one evening, looked each other in the eyes deeply, recited love poems and vowed our true love before we decided to get married, _or_ do the _nasty_..." He threw in with a glint in his eye.

"Yeah sure... You never even kissed her before..." Cameron threw in.

House lifted a brow. "How would you know? Maybe I'm not the only one making out with my co-workers at work like other guys around here..."

Unsure, Cameron cleared her throat and glanced at Chase, looking for some help, but Chase was suddenly totally fascinated by the fingerprints on the glass table...

House snorted. "As much as I enjoy this little chat, girls- And I mean all three of you.- But as there is no new case, as it seems, I will go now and handle some other important stuff. I have places to go, lives to save and commitments to fulfill..."

"Like ordering an annulment?"

"Funny, Foreman, really funny... But no, no annulment..." House smirked and limped to the door. "We've been in bed all weekend, therefore I'll go watch some porn now for inspiration, so we won't get bored tonight..." With those words House left them alone in the office again.

Cameron folded her arms in front of her chest. "I don't think that this marriage will work out long..."

"Why not?" Chase blinked at her in question. "They've been acting like an old married couple since I've been here anyway..."

* * *

Tuesday evening

Bored, House sat in Cuddy's office and played with a push-pen, which he twisted between his fingers while he waited for Cuddy to finish her paperwork, so they could finally go home. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a movement outside in front of the office... For a moment inattentive, he dropped the pen, which dashed against Cuddy´s desk with a hollow _plop_.

"Cut that crap, House." Cuddy growled unnerved and grabbed another file without even bothering to look at him.

"As soon as you cut yours and we can go..."

"My 'crap' allows me to pay your bills, House." She knitted her brows. "Besides I could work faster if I wouldn´t always be interrupted by dropping pens..."

"Always?" House snorted. "I tell you, I just dropped that stupid pen one time."

"Yeah, and if you let him lie, it will be the only time..."

"You´re such a-" He had intended to say 'smart ass' but forgot to finish his sentence as he suddenly noticed Cameron walking straight to Cuddy´s office through the half closed jalousies in front of the office windows... "I´m going to kiss you know." he said instead of to Cuddy and stood up.

"No way." Now she did look up and watched him full of suspicion as he limped around her desk towards her.

"Way." House mumbled, enveloped her neck with his left hand and bent downwards.

As his lips met hers with unexpected tenderness, Cuddy heard how someone enter her office. That someone cleared her throat soundly. Shocked, but also a little relieved, because she now wouldn't need to deal with her own desire for her annoying husband, Cuddy pulled away from House, who only straightened up smirking before he turned around to face Cameron, who now stood in the middle of the office, holding a pack of papers.

"I thought you didn't make out with co-workers." Cameron said, looking at House and went straight to Cuddy's desk to place some files on it.

House only smirked some more, while Cuddy frowned, irritated in sight of that odd comment.

"I didn´t make out with an co-worker, I kissed my wife." House explained, amused. "There's a difference." His left hand rested now on Cuddys shoulder and Cuddy was hit by the cognition that House had known all along that Cameron would enter her office, that he just kissed her to hold up their camouflage...

"Want something special, Dr. Cameron?" Cuddy asked and laid her hand tenderly on House´s. Damn him and their fake-marriage and the fact that she was actually enjoying the feeling of his warm hand under hers... "Because otherwise my husband and I would like to be alone again..." Her voice was sharp as a knife.

"Oho." House uttered to Cameron, chuckling slightly. "She hates being interrupted during fore play..." He nearly choked on his chuckle as Cuddy dug her nails painfully deep in the back of his hand. But only nearly though... The whole scene was just too much fun...

Cameron blushed slightly. "I just wanted to hand you those files..." She gestured at the files with one hand. "Please excuse my interruption..." Hurriedly she left the office.

"And on we go..." Again House bend to her to kiss her...

"Not so fast, Don Juan." Cuddy threw in and placed her right hand over his mouth which was now an insuperable barrier between their lips. "The show is over, so calm down, sit down and let me work..."

Pouting House raised himself up. "You're really as cold as ice..."

Cuddy lifted a brow. "Hey, I have a reputation to uphold being your little snow queen and all..." She smirked.

* * *

Some Thanks and some beggings (Hey, you should know me so far by now so don´t act so surprised ^.^)

Thanks to Melissa for being such a wonderful kind genius fast beta (yes, these are a lot of adjectives, but she deserves all of them!)

And thanks to all of you who took the time to review to this so far. I loved every review, it made me work faster AND better, so please don´t stop now, bring on the love ^.^ (Yeah, that was a thank you AND a begging in one sentence ^.^)

As a little thank-you I will send a preview of the next chapter to everyone who reviews as always (Yes, bribe... But as I said earlier: You should know me by now good enough to see something like that coming ^-^)


	5. Same procedure as every day

**Chapter 5: Same procedure as every day**

Five weeks later, Thursday morning

"Cameron told _me_ to tell _you_ to tell your _parents_ that you're married.- Wow, that could get confusing!" Wilson greeted House and sat down right next to him. They sat on the bank between two big pines right in front the hospital. "Your mom called again..." Wilson added. "Cameron is right. You really should tell your parents that you're married..."

House remained silent; looking at two pretty young women who were riding past them on roller blades.

"Hey!" Wilson clicked his fingers in front of House's face to get his attention back. "You're married, remember?... And you should tell your parents so."

"They are already the last to know, so who cares about two more weeks?"

"You're acting childish." Wilson crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"That's the youthful charm, Cuddy fell in-"

"Cut that crap." Wilson interrupted rudely. "You can't avoid your parents forever..."

"But I can at least try..."

"House..."

"If I tell them, they'll be sure to want to come here..."

"And?" Wilson asked, relaxed. "You already spent an evening with Cuddy's parents and you survived _that_... Cuddy even went so far to say that you behaved very well... So where is your problem?"

"Wilson?" House looked at him.

"Yes?"

"You're annoying."

"House?"

"Yes?"

"Talk to your parents."

* * *

Thursday evening

As Cuddy entered her apartment, the pleasant smell of braised onions and tomatoes filled her nostrils. She dropped her purse and pulled her coat off before she followed the smell past her dining room, whereby she noticed that the table was solemnly set for two people, which irritated her knowing who had set it up, checking her peripheral vision, she found House in front of the oven with a wood-spoon in his hand instead of his cane.

"What are you doing?" She leaned against the doorframe and watched how he stirred in the pot with the spoon.

"I'm cooking." he explained without even bothering to turn to her, grabbing the saltshaker with his left hand.

"Trying to poison me now?" Curious, Cuddy came closer.

"Then I would let _Wilson_ do the cooking..." He glanced at her over his shoulder.

Cuddy arched a brow. "Wilson _can_ cook, House."

"Hm..." House stopped to stir and turned around to her. "You're right... Let's try again, Cuddy..."

"I beg your pardon?" Confused, she looked at him before she allowed her gaze to wander to the pot. Hm... tomato sauce. Granted, not the most creative thing to cook but she was starving and only because of the smell her mouth watered.

Impatiently he rolled his eyes. "What are you doing?" he imitated Cuddy's question from before. "I'm cooking.- Trying to poison me now?- Then I would let _Chase_ do the cooking.- Better?"

Cuddy snorted, took the spoon from him and tasted a bit of the sauce. "It lacks salt." she said dryly.

"And arsenic." House added in the same tune.

"I thought you didn't wanna poison me?" Smiling she leaned next to him on the counter.

"Changed my mind..." He took the spoon back from her and shoved her a bit aside to get a better look into the second higher pot with boiling water.

"Hm..." Silently Cuddy watched him as he threw a generous portion of spaghetti into the boiling water. "Why do you even bother to cook?" she asked then.

He stirred the spaghetti. "Hunger?"

"No-"

"Oh yes, Cuddy, trust me. I'm nearly starving..." He gave a pinch of salt to the spaghetti, stirred the sauce again and turned around to face her. "The food in the cafeteria has been awful today. What was that even supposed to be? Re-digested paper-mâché?"

Unnerved Cuddy shook her head. "That's not what I meant." She glared at him. "Which you would know, if you wouldn't always interrupt my speaking... I meant if you were hungry, you would've ordered something... or probably steal something from Wilson, as always..."

"I don't stea-"

She ignored his comment. "And over and above you set the table nicely..."

"I did not!" House objected promptly. If he wouldn't need his hands for cooking, he would've crossed his arms demonstratively to emphasize his resistance to her declaration.

"Who did it then? The brownies maybe?" Cuddy arched a brow.

"The brownies don't exist, Cuddy..."

"Really?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest. _Her_ arms were free to do so.

"Yeah, really... And Santa Claus is just a figment of the media so..."

"I'm shocked. So now that we count the brownies and Santa Claus out, who set the table then?"

"Cameron." House cut in smirking.

"Cam-eron?" Unbelievingly she gazed at him. "Please tell me you didn't force Cameron to set _my_ table for you."

Acting confused, House frowned. "But that's what I said just moments ago, right? Wasn't that hard to convince her..." Halfhearted he suppressed a smirk. "I made her believe that she would be setting the table for her and me... Or did you truly think that I would waste my precious time with folding napkins?"

Instead of answering, Cuddy gifted him with that special smile, the smile that said he had given her something truly un-House, something he didn't want her to know about his 'true nature', and nothing could be done to rectify it... Just like that time as he had shown up at her door and had asked him if he liked her....

Corresponding suspicious, he looked at her. "What?"

Self-satisfied, she liked her lips like a cat who just discovered, caught and eaten Tweety. "You set the table yourself."

House rolled his eyes. "I just said-"

"No woman would fold napkins so uncharitably, House." Cuddy cut in, still smiling brightly and raised herself up now that her triumph was within reach. "You did it... so you're planning something... And whenever you're planning something, you want something... So what do you want, House?"

Suddenly, nearly insensible, the atmosphere of the room changed and the amused imperturbableness, that of which they had teased each other with so freely only moments ago, faded away. Quietly House reached for a small box out of the pocket of his jacket, which before, was carelessly placed on the counter next to him, but now was being handed to Cuddy with more grace. Observantly, he watched her while she opened it.

"What?" Confusion mirrored itself in her face, therefore his lacked of any emotion.

"My parents are coming to visit us this Sunday..." His voice was so icy that the room temperature cooled down a few degrees.

_His parents_... Slowly Cuddy began to take in the situation. Quietly she waited for him to continue, not being able to voice her own opinion just yet.

She thought about how she had felt during the visit with her parents... coming to the conclusion that meeting House meeting her parents was decidedly more pleasant than meeting with his.

Her insides warmed as she remembered how nice House had behaved during the dinner with her parents... Funny and sarcastic like always but also considerate and courteous and... lovable. Her parents had liked him. She had liked him... but missed his sharp cynicism, his desire for conflicts all at the same time. Subtly, she shook her head to free herself from her own confusing thoughts... There she had one dinner with the nice attentive House and she already missed his old self?- This marriage with him definitely drove her nuts...

"... I already booked a table for us at that small Italian restaurant around the corner, are you ok with that?" he carried on his explanations.

"Sure." She nodded slightly.

His gaze avoided hers. "They want to move on to my aunt next morning... I told them they could stay at our place over night..."

"No problem..." Worried Cuddy frowned. He hadn't told her all... "What about the ring?"

"The wedding ring of my grandmother." he said calmly. "You should wear it when my parents are here."

"Alright." Her hand closed around the small box.

He stared at the dark tiling. Behind him the water with the spaghetti boiled over. Cursing, but grateful for the interruption he turned back to the oven, turned down the heat a bit and stirred in the pot. "The spaghetti will be ready soon..." he mumbled quietly, nearly audible, then added: "I want them to think that this marriage works, Cuddy..." He stirred in the sauce, tasted it and grabbed the pepper mill, which stood on the counter right next to him. "I want my mother to believe that I'm happy. Only for once..." The sound of the grinding pepper mill nearly over voiced his words. As if hypnotized from the swirl of the stirring sauce, House stared in the pot.

"Ok..." Cuddy mumbled quietly, took a tea spoon out of a drawer near by and tasted the sauce again. "It still lacks salt, House." Gently she placed her free hand on his shoulder.

* * *

"We should prepare ourselves for my parents visit..." House explained half an hour later and placed his fork next to his plate. "You know... coordinate our stories, comparing our statements, practice kissing..."

Cuddy nearly choked on her last spaghetti. "Practice kissing?"

"Of course..." House nodded. "It should look as realistic as possible..."

"And therefore you need practice?" Grinning Cuddy arched a brow.

"Not me..." Grinning he arched a brow too, imitated her expression. "But as I kissed you last time in front of your parents or the time in your office you were a bit stiff, Cuddles..."

She snorted. "You just wanna make out with me..."

"Sure." He smirked even more. "I'm a man. That's my biological program... because of my genes I'm determined to want to have sex with you..."

"House."

"... but as long as this isn't an option I will settle for the next best thing..." he continued talking unimpressed. "Maybe it would be more relaxing during kissing if you were naked..."

"House!" Warningly she looked at him, but couldn't suppress a slight smirk.

"What?" Innocently he blinked at her. "I'm just trying to help you out here."

"Sure-"

The demanding sound of the ringing phone kept her from replying sharply. Because she was this time closer to the phone, she stood up and answered it, just to roll her eyes unnerved moments after. "For you..." she growled and handed him the phone.

House accepted the phone. "Yes?" Then he frowned slightly. "Wilson, what do you want?"

"To congratulate you, because you had been so brave..." Wilson explained cheerfully.

House drummed his fingers on the table which was noticed by Cuddy, who had started to clear away the table, with a questioning look.

"Your parents are coming on Sunday, right?" Wilson dug.

"Yeah..." House growled, the rhythm of his drumming fingers quickening. "We're going to have dinner with them... I already booked a table in a restaurant..."

"So a family dinner then?"

"Yes." House replied short spoken. He could imagine all to well how much Wilson must've been enjoying this situation right now...

Wilson chuckled quietly. "God, I would pay good money to see that... Maybe you could videotape it for me..." He sighed longingly at that thought. "Then I could watch it on my plasma... and eat popcorn... it would be a great evening..."

House's eyes went small. "In moments like these I would love to kill you..."

"But you would never do that..." Wilson pointed out brightly.

"Why not?"

"I am your only friend."

House snorted. "My only friend?"

"Yeah," Wilson replied gleefully. "I am the Ernie to your Bert."

Unnerved House rolled his eyes. "Stop watching kids TV, Ernie, it's embarrassing." Not interested into continuing this silly chat, House hung up.

Puzzled, Cuddy glanced at him from the kitchen door "Ernie?"

Growling House nodded. "Yeah... he considers himself Ernie... We need to find him a girlfriend... The poor man already seeks for happiness in fantasies."

Cuddy arched a brow. "'Seeking for happiness in fantasies'? That´s a lame remark..." Her voice was drowning in sarcasm. "Your jokes had been already better..."

"I know..." He shrugged his shoulders. "My parents are coming, and that always depresses me a little..." He tried to look really depressed. "Maybe a little sex could cheer me-"

"No, House!" Sternly she looked at him.

"Or you could just undress yourself?"

Without an answer, Cuddy turned around with her head held high and went with swinging hips back to the kitchen.

"I can imagine," He called after her. "That your naked twins could cheer me up in a flash..."

"Dream on, House!" Cuddy called back.

"I will Cuddy, I will..." House mumbled grinning, crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against his chair satisfied.

* * *

THANKS SO MUCH TO MELISSA for taking the time (although it had been christmas!- hope you had a merry christmas too, by the way ^-^) to beta this so wonderfully for me once more. Melissa, you´re gorgeous!

THANKS to all of you who reviewed, alerted, favorite-ed, this story. Thank you so much for your kind encouragement. And a special thanks here to xatka, who sent me even some PMs and a little Huddy-game as a christmas gift. So this chapter is for you, dear, as a late christmas gift from me for you ^-^

Wheow, a long time since I talked to you, guys... Sorry, but I had been soooo busy completing the german version of this before christmas. But I really made it! I was able to hand my grandmother 74 pages full of silly Huddy-fluff on christmas! *proud of myself*

Well, I hope you like this chapter, please leave a review (cause they make me tingle with joy! AND they make me translate faster... there are still six more chapters waiting to be translated ^-^)

As always I give everyone who reviews a little preview (*giggles* yeah the long time apart hadn´t changed anything on my obsession with reviews ^-^).


	6. Parents

**Chapter 6: Parents**

Sunday morning

Wearing some old jeans and a favorite sweatshirt that went down to her knees; Cuddy sat at the kitchen table with House, satisfied with her first cup of coffee that had been made, gratefully, during her shower.

She sighed, pleased as the hot coffee ran down her throat. One thing she had to grant her husband for was that he could make a hell of a coffee... House on the other hand glared at his _loving_ wife, also known as the Snow Queen and killer of his taste buds, over his own portion of gruel, which Cuddy had given him as 'breakfast'. With a rather dark expression he stirred the alien-slime-like creation, but in Cuddy's words it was _totally healthy_ slobber, which the breakfast-terrorist's had declared as the most fundamental meal of the day all too generously.

"Most fundamental meal of the day..." House grumbled quietly. "Pha... Presumably because it could always be the last meal too..."

Cuddy forced herself not to smirk, as she noticed House's glare. "Did you say something, sweetie?" She fluttered her eyelashes.

"Your flummeries won't be enough to sweeten this glop..." He glared at her again, before he grabbed the sugar bowl and nearly emptied it over his dish.

Hurriedly Cuddy grabbed over the table to take away the bowl. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to make this slime barely eatable..." He mixed in the sugar and tasted a spoon full. "Now I'm only missing some marshmallows and then, if I shut my eyes tightly and truly believe, it might taste like Lucky-Charms..."

Shaking her head, Cuddy placed the sugar bowl out of House's reach back on the table. "Ever heard of 'healthy, balanced diet'?"

"Of course... But the word 'diet' implies that it really is _eatable_... And this crap is as eatable as Michael Jackson is human..." He shoved another spoon into his mouth and glanced at the sugar bowl.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "So we're going to have dinner with your parents today and pretend to be the perfect couple?" she changed the subject not so subtly.

"Yes." House fixated the sugar bowl with his eyes, just like he could force it to come back to him by his looks only...

Just in case Cuddy laid one hand on the sugar bowl, while she used her free hand to feed herself with another spoon full of gruel. "I thought you couldn't lie to your mom...?"

"That's the good thing bout being married." He lost his interest in the sugar bowl and gazed at Cuddy's necklace instead, deciding he didn't like her favorite sweatshirt at all... Lacked of cleavage... "You're sharing the weights!- Which means in our case that we go have dinner with my parents and YOU are going to lie to my mom for me."

Cuddy snorted. "_I_ lie to your mom for you?"

"That plan is ingenious." Presumably her breasts would be able to sweeten this stuff Cuddy had called 'food' so generously just like the sugar, he guessed. By the thought of licking the gruel from her breasts, he nearly got hungry for the tasteless muck... "You could _cuddle_ me the whole evening and look with those puppy eyes of yours at me as much as you want..." He tore his gaze off her décolleté. "Me doing this would be implausible. My mother knows that I'm not really the _emotional_ kind of guy..."

"Pfft, and who lost his temper, just because that one big car crashed into that other big car?" Cuddy arched a brow and sipped on her orange-juice.

"Truck, Cuddy. That weren't any cars but trucks. Monster trucks.- That's something totally different!"

"Monster trucks, whatever..." Untouched Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "Why did you even take me there?"

"Because Wilson had been on a date..." he explained impatient. "And because in contrary to Wilson I have no chance to get some..."

"Totally right!"

"...Monster trucks had been the best alternative. And because you were free and my sex-misery is all your fault, bringing you there seemed fair."

"For all I care.... but still; you freaked out."

"I did not... I was only _slightly _excited because that stupid scumbag Zeus lost... although his 'Flash of dead' had been much stronger and faster than that 'Arm of Anger'..."

"I can't decide about what I should laugh first..." she chuckled. "About the fact that seriously someone calls his car-"

"Truck!"

"Truck." Cuddy rolled his eyes, but grinned some more. "'Flash of dead' and himself 'Zeus' or that YOU bet money on a maniac like that, or about the fact that you're still angry but the five dollars you lost..." She giggled.

"Therefore you've got a purple bathroom!" House defended himself.

"What?"

"That's a fact, Cuddy... There's no way to blandish it."

"You do know that this change of subject was total absurd?"

"Why? I just want to point out that a person who is crazy enough to hire an obviously drugged, color blind interior designer to garble her bathroom and even _pays _him for it afterwards, isn't really the best person to judge other people's behavior..."

Before Cuddy was able to answer him how his stupid remark deserved it, the door bell chimed. Much to her surprise House stood up and limped to the door, as well to open it as to get away from the awful tasting breakfast... He would've need to order some pizza today... And to pay for it with one of Cuddy's credit-cards... Well, a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do. He grinned, looking through the peephole. And froze.

Damn.

Oh. Damn..

His parents.

As fast and as silent as he could manage, House limped back into the kitchen, where Cuddy was still eating her gruel.

"Back again? Didn't hear you open the door..." Astonished she looked at him, something was wrong, she could see that in his eyes. God, presumably he would wear sunglasses all the time if he would know how much his eyes revealed about him...

"Maybe because I never opened the door in first place..." House replied darkly.

"Who was in front of the door?- Jehovah's Witnesses?"

"Worse."

"Scientology?"

"My parents..."

"What?" Shocked Cuddy sunk her spoon. "House please tell me, that you left your parents at the outside the closed front door."

His expression got somehow recalcitrant. "You always preach that you shouldn't lie."

Startled Cuddy shook her head. "You can't let your parents stand outside closed doors! What do you want to do? Just wait till they go?"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course not... I just didn't want to open the door myself. You do that. Then they will also know that I didn't just make you up..."

"You. Can't be. Serious." Unbelievingly she stared at him. The door chime demanded attention loudly.

He shrugged his shoulders nearly untouched but the tautness of his body, his stiff attitude of his shoulders and the strong grab with whom he held on to his cane gave him away. "Great. Let them stay outside then... They are to early anyway..."

Suspicious Cuddy watched him, tried to evaluate if this was just another of his power-games or if there was some deeper intent, something more serious behind his actions... But that she could find out just so easily. Arrogantly she arched a brow, tested him. "This'll cost you something..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Quid pro quo, my dear." Relaxed and smirking she leaned back against her chair.

"Of course..." He raised a brow. "Two weeks ago we had a date with your parents and I behaved PERFECTLY well."

"Pfft, Why should I care bout your favors of yesterday." She smirked harder. "The power lies in the future."

"Great, now she justifies her unfair behavior with stupid platitudes." he mumbled, like to himself. "And someone like that calls herself an executive..." The repeated ringing of the door bell echoed dull in his ears. Seemed like his parents were getting impatient...

"I can hear you, House."

"That wasn't me, that was your conscience."

"My conscience?"

"Yes..." Now he was the one grinning. "Doesn't it scare you that your moral compass sounds like mine?"

Cuddy suppressed a grin. Don't show weakness now. Arrogantly she arched a brow. "A fundraiser, House. Next week; You, me and a suit."

"And you go there naked?- Or will _you_ wear the suit and _I_ go naked?"

Smiling softly she ignored his comment. "Either way you go with me to that fundraiser and play the perfect husband or you can open the door yourself, while I wash my hair again..."

His eyes went small. "You wouldn't dare..."

"Don't be too sure..." Cuddy played with her curls. "I think I forgot to use my conditioner... Hm, I should better catch that up, don't you think?

Again the door bell chimed, this time audible longer than before. House sighed. "Alright..." Resigned he nodded his head lightly. "But no tie... And no opening the door, blackmailer."

Satisfied she stood up. "Perfect." She grinned and stated loosening up her jeans relaxed. "Take off your shirt..."

"What?" Startled but fascinated also he watched her undress.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Take off your shirt, House..."

The door bell again.

He frowned but obeyed and started to loosen up his shirt. "As much as I enjoy this little interlude, Cuddles... we don't have time for a quickie. We should hold of on being naked for the fundraiser..." His shirt dropped on the floor while Cuddy got out her jeans.

"I hate to destroy your illusions..." Bare feet and still wearing her sweater she strode towards the door. "But I'm not stripping down for your benefit, but for your parents..."

"What?" Confusion mirrored itself in his face as he followed her.

"Well, somehow we need to explain..." The door bell once more. "...why we made them wait so long, right?" She reached for the door knob.

Awareness shot through him. "Cuddy, you cunning minx!" Commendatory he smirked.

"Right." She glanced at him over her shoulder. "That's why I'm the boss and you're my subordinate..." with those words she opened the door and cut of his upcoming reply.

Friendly and convincingly surprised she greeted his parents: "Mr. and Mr. House!" She even succeeded in blushing slightly. "We didn't expect you this early..."

"I thought you wanted you join us first this afternoon..." House grumbled, who stood now next to Cuddy and bent down to hug his mother.

"Yes, my darling... Our flight arrived earlier than planed, so we took a taxi to you..." Smiling, Blythe embraced her son. He looked good, she thought. The marriage seemed to suit him...

"Are we interrupting something?" Smirking his father gazed from him to Cuddy.

* * *

Sunday evening

"Thank you." Politely Cuddy smiled at the waitress who just had poured her another glass of wine before she turned around to House and his parents again. The day passed by without further problems... After his parents had arrived so surprisingly early, House and Cuddy had dressed hurriedly and then they had shown them the guest room... Good thing that House had already brought his stuff into Cuddy's bedroom yesterday... Of course he brought them while Cuddy was changing her clothes and had been standing in only her underwear in her room... Therefore House knew now that he didn't like her purple bathroom but he loved her purple underwear... although he allowed himself to add that he would've loved her underwear even more if it was lying on the floor of her bathroom, especially when he and Cuddy could enjoy this sight from in her shower, preferably in the nude.

"And how is my son doing as a husband, Lisa?" John House interrupted her thoughts and smiled at her. "It's not like he has much experience with relationships..."

Cuddy could feel how House flinched under that question. Soothingly she laid her hand on his arm, every muscle of him was tense with exertion. She let her hand wander to his own and closed hers around it gently before she answered his father quietly: "He's doing great, Mr. House." She folded her fingers with House's. "He's a good man..." Smiling she glanced at him. "He's a complicated man, but a good man though..."

House's expression didn't change at all but he turned around his hand under hers, so their palms touched while he caressed the back of her hand with his thump tenderly.

Satisfied Blythe registered this tender gesture of her son with a smile. Just like the longing look in Cuddy's eyes.

* * *

Sunday night

The bare illuminating of the night-lamps bathed Cuddy's bedroom into a soft yellow light. In a good mood House laid on Cuddle's bed and observed his wife on how she stood in front of her side of the bed wearing a short red kimono over her fitting and short nighties, putting her hands on her hips. Smirking he crossed his arms behind his back and spoke up. "Come to bed, Cuddles..."

Instead of answering him, Cuddy only shot him a death glare, slipped back under her covers and switched of her lamp. As soon as she laid next to him he turned to her and looped one arm around her warm body, which brought him another death glare from Cuddy, before she freed herself skilled and sat up. "Don't push it to far, House..."

"Don't be so prude..." House pouted and raised himself up to look at her. "Betty wouldn't be that shy..."

"Who's Betty?"

House smirked. "That's the plastic doll... We're rather close now... You kind of stick together when you share a bed in those lonely nights..." Grinning he spread his arms. "C´mere, I'll show you!"

"Did you know that I just had a retraining in 'How to torture your importunate husband'?" Cuddy asked sharply and fondled her arms in front of her chest.

"Really?" Interested he looked at her.

Warningly she arched a brow. "Pester me and I show you." Cuddy slid under her covers again and turned on her side, away from House facing her closet.

"Hrmpf..." House let himself fall back into his pillows again, mumbling something which sounded much like 'snow queen' as he switched of his lamp.

For a few minutes they laid next to each other in totally darkness...

"Were you serious?" House's quiet voice cut through the silence.

"What?" Confused Cuddy turned around again, tried to make out his face in the dark.

Uneasy House changed his position, laid his left arm over his chest, crossing his legs just to place his arm next to his body again. "If you were serious..." he uttered quietly, his eyes straight fixed on the deep black ceiling. "What you said during dinner... Bout me..."

"What I said to your dad?" she asked back, equally hushed.

"I know I'm not..." His voice faded before he finished the sentence.

She really wished she could see his eyes... Hesitantly she approached to him, laying her left hand on his chest carefully and felt his pounding heart under her palm just like the slight movement of his upper body as he turned towards her.

"House?" She placed her head on her right forearm and moved a bit closer. So close that his breath caressed her skin. Closer than she could ever be to him in the light of the day, not only physically...

"You're a good man." she added whispering.

His hand met hers in the darkness.

* * *

I apologize for being so slow posting it but my email-account messed up again, so I didn´t recieve the beta-ed version till today and only because my smart beta wondered why I hadn´t updated it and sent it to me again...

Now the usual stuff follows:

THANKS to Maja, who found out the names of House´s parents for me.

THANKS to Melissa for being such a damn good beta and for being so smart to guess that my stupid email messed this up the first time. You´re gorgeous. I know, I´m repeating myself, but I can´t help!

THANKS to Deborah for only being who she is. You´re gorgeous! (Yeah, repeating once more, what I told you like a thousand times... Once again, I´m helpless to find better words.)

THANKS to all of you who took the time to review. You´re just great!

BRIBE (Yeah, bribe again.. Repeating seems to get a habit of mine... just like the bribing ^-^)  
Please leave me some feedback and tell me what you thought bout this chapter, if you do, I´ll send you the first scene of the seventh chapter as a little thank you.


	7. Calling cards

**Chapter 7: Calling Cards**

Monday morning

"Cuddy."

"Mrhm..." Lethargic Cuddy turned her head a bit to the left, away from the annoying voice which tried to wake her from her dreams.

"Wake up, Cuddy!" The voice penetrating her sleep riddled mind.

Under great effort Cuddy succeeded into opening her eyes briefly just to shut them down immediately as she recognized the face which belonged to the voice. "House." she groaned as she buried her face into her pillow once more.

Her personal nightmare sat right next to her on her bed, beaming. "Stand up, Cuddy!" He took her by her shoulder and shook her slightly.

"Mrmph..." she grumbled displeased. "My alarm hasn't gone off yet..."

"Of course not... And it won´t..." House explained dryly and shook her some more. "I turned off..."

"You did WHAT?" Suddenly wide awake, Cuddy bolted upright. "What time is it?"

"Half past seven."

"My alarm should have sounded thirty minutes ago!"

"Good thing I woke you then, right?" House grinned.

"That would not be necessary if you hadn't set my alarm off..." Angrily she glared at him. "Why would you do that?"

"I wanted to sleep in..." he shrugged. "Your alarm would´ve woken me..."

"But you were already awake!" Cuddy spoke out disgruntled.

"Therefor I thought, I do a good deed and wake you..." He looked so damn self satisfied right now...

"Must you always have the last word?" she asked and glared at him. How lovely it would be to scratch his eyes out right now, alas Cuddy had no time; thanks to him she was already late... Damn him!

"Yes."

"Won´t get it this time." Arrogantly Cuddy arched a brow. This victory he wouldn´t get...

"I believe I will..."

"Care to explain?"

"I have the better stamina in such stuff, Cuddles." he replied sure of himself, grinning widely

"Prove it."

"Don´t you need to go to work?"

"Don´t you?"

"I'm gonna take my parents to the airport later this morning..." His face brightened in triumph. "So I'm going to be late."

"Arf." Totally frustrated Cuddy threw her hands in the air in resignation.

"Muhaha."

"What was that?" Confused she looked at him.

"I want the last sound as well..."

"Sick." She shot him a last choked glare before she stood up and made her way to the bathroom.

"But oh so satisfying." Being pretty at ease with himself, House grabbed his pills from his nightstand, swallowed one and then leaned back against his pillows relaxed.

* * *

"Good morning, Lisa!" Blythe's cheery voice greeted her as she entered the kitchen with frustrating awake eyes. Cuddy looked up at her, blinking sleepily behind her first cup of coffee.

"Oh, Good morning, Mrs. House, you're awake pretty early..."... and in good mood too! Cuddy frowned; being in a full state of awareness before two cups of coffee was plain weird.

"The lovely scent of fresh coffee woke me and I followed it into the kitchen..." Interested Blythe moved closer to Cuddy and her full can of coffee.

"Would you like a cup?" Questioning Cuddy arched a brow and opened the closet right next to her to get a second cup...

Blythe nodded. "I would love too, thank you." She took the cup which Cuddy handed her with a smile and sipped on the hot drink.

A few minutes they were quietly drinking their coffee in peaceful harmony till Blythe broke the silence: "Do you love my son, Lisa?"

Choking Cuddy tried to swallow the last sip of coffee which had taken the wrong way down. "Well, I married him..." she finally succeeded to answer.

"Yes, but do you love him?"

"Yes."

"Does Greg know?"

"Of course he´s my-"

"He´s not really your husband, right? You´re not truly a couple."

Speechless Cuddy stared at her.

"I know my son very well. I know when he lies and as he told me, you were his wife, he had been lying for sure."

"We are married..."

"But you are not his woman... This marriage wasn´t planed, was it?"

"No..." Beaten Cuddy's shoulder slumped as she stared into her coffee cup. "We were too drunk to have anything planed. He stayed married with me to protect my honor in front of my staff..."

"Greg isn´t that selfless." To underline her statement Blythe waved her head slightly. "I think, he stayed married to you, cause he wants to be married to you..."

"House isn't interested in a marriage. Least of all in a marriage with me... I´m sorry, but believe me when we're not busy pretending to be the perfect match, we're not all rainbows and lollipops".

"Rainbows and lollipops would just bore him... He loves confrontations... Well, maybe not necessarily with his father and me..." Blythe´s face took on a melancholic expression before quickly opening to a large smile. "But with you, there..."

"Tell me about it..." Cuddy snorted. Finally a theme where she could answer freely to again... "We argue almost every..." Her inner-eye flashed House's smug expression from earlier this morning, before she went to shower.

"You´re smiling." Blythe interrupted her thoughts softly.

"What, I´m...?" Confused Cuddy frowned.

"You like to debate with my son, right? You like to be with him..."

"Well yes, I..." Quite helpless Cuddy shrugged her shoulders.

"Wanna know what gave his lie away?" Blythe switched the subject suddenly once more.

Cuddy stared at her with wide eyes.

"As he talked about you on the phone, his voice was full of longing... And you don´t crave for those things you already have, do you?"

Once again Cuddy didn´t knew how to answer.

"You don´t need to say anything, dear." Lovingly Blythe smiled at her daughter in law. "Just think about my words..." She seemed like she wanted to add something but House´s characteristic steps, the clicking of his cane on the wood panels as he went down the stairs, silenced her.

"Darling, where are you?" House purred brightly from out of the stairway, before he entered the kitchen in a rather good mood. Although the sight of his mother talking to his wife scared him a bit, he hid his worries of a possible conspiracy of those two women against him behind a cheery face, and limped to Cuddy. "There you are!" he greeted her and then looked at his mother. "Good morning, mom... My two favorite women in one room, great!" Smirking he looped his left arm around Cuddy´s shoulders, bent to her and kissed her slightly on the lips.

Amused Blythe arched a brow. "Stop schmoozing, Greg. We both know you to well to fall for your charms..." She winked at Cuddy.

* * *

Monday afternoon

Still a bit confused by the earlier chat with House's mother, Cuddy wandered through the floors of her hospital, using the time to run the conversation through her mind again.

"Do you think, this will work between them?" she heard a female voice ask, snapping her out of her reprieve. The voice came out of the nurse-room nearby. And it definitely belonged to nurse Nadja, that blabber...

"What? Who with whom?" another female voice asked back breathless. Cuddy twisted her eyes as she identified this voice as well. Nurse Nora, of course... Those two girls were always together gossiping bout the hospital staff... House just called them the N&N´s...

"House and Cuddy!" Nadja answered unnerved which made Cuddy stop abruptly. "They are barely married are barely getting any."

'_What_?' Cuddy arched a brow.

"What?" Nora giggled. "They are getting what??"

"Sex, Nora." Nadja explained impatient. "Somehow I feel pity for Cuddy... married to that bastard and not even getting any sex... Well, supposably his leg is to blame... Or do you believe, that there is much going on between their sheets?"

_'This little mean..'_ Cuddy´s eyes narrowed, granted Nadja was right, she didn't sleep with House; but the fact that she believed House's leg would stop them! Shaking her head, Cuddy couldn't figure out why Nadja´s words got to her like that. She shouldn't care; after all she was famous for her fondness for gossip. She had anticipated gossip about her marriage with House... That´s why she had stayed married to him, why her fists were clenching at her sides was a matter she was choosing to ignore.

"Anyway, I don´t think that they have much action..." Nadja continued talking, totally unaware of the imminent danger. "They don´t even kiss..."

Cuddy would love nothing more than to storm in the nurse room and shut those two blabbers up... Before she was able to follow her impulse, she recognized her husband coming around the corner, walking towards her and a new idea flashed trough her mind.

_'Not getting any, right?'_ she thought. _'Well, we see about this...'_ Striding purposely, she skidded to a halt in front of her husband

"Hello Cuddy." he greeted her smirking and drummed his cane on the floor lightly. "What can I-"

Her hot mouth, which pressed against his at a sudden, kept him from talking further. In a flash she had her arms around his neck, angling her body into his.

Confused House pulled back, unglued his lips from hers. "Cuddy, what...?"

Annoyed she pulled his head back down to her. "Kiss me already!" she hissed quietly against his mouth and pressed her lips against his once more.

"Not that I'm complaining..." he answered, their lips still brushing. "But what are you up to"? Despite his obvious confusion towards her spontaneous outburst of passion in public, at least ten eyes were staring at them and as far as he knew Cuddy would kill him had he started this. His left arm wrapped around her small waist and pulled her closer anyway.

"We're having a happy marriage, understood?" she whispered, trailing kisses down his neck.

"What?" House breathed, distracted from her tenderness.

"If I'm forced to have a fake-marriage..." she explained against his left ear before nibbling on his lobe. "...then at least it's a damn happy fake-marriage."

"Just like or favorite idol Britney Spears? I´ll manage..." His hand wandered over her back to her ass. He looped his right arm around her too, pressing his hand, which was still holding his cane in a strong grip, against the small hollow of her back. I moments like these he cursed his cane even more... He really wished to be able to place his right hand on her gorgeous globes too... "I even would allow you to have your way with me on the balcony, if it would help you..." If Cuddy was up for a show he would be the last one to let her down... He tilted his head to gain better access to her mouth, kissing her deeply. Who knew if he would ever get an opportunity like that again?

"Very generous..." she mumbled against his mouth just to fall into another kiss with him.

"A trait of mine which mirrors itself in many of my activities..." He smiled against her lips. Her taste on his tongue made him light. "Wait till we are naked on a balcony..." He used the grace of the moment to suck on her neck, caressing the soft skin with his lips and enjoying her quick pulse pulsing against his mouth. Her scent filled him.

"Balcony?" Cuddy asked sighing, using his shoulder for leverage as her bones turned to warm wax and her mind to gruel. Why was she doing this again?

"Balcony... Office... I don't care as long as we're both naked..." He kissed her again, bathed in her taste, absolutely determined to reach as much as he could of her.

"Get a room." Cuddy´s newest assistant suddenly crashed the moment. What was her name again? Benny? Berta?- She made Cuddy pull away from him, evidently she was the devil so he didn´t liked her. Even if her name had been Angelina Jolie, hell, even if she had been Angelina Jolie!

"What?" Cuddy stepped out of House´s embrace and turned to face her assistant, arching a brow warningly. "Did you say something, Brenda?"

Brenda... Right. House shot Brenda a death glare and tried to pull Cuddy against him again but she moved away once more.

"Well..." Brenda uttered. "A package just arrived for you, Dr. Cuddy."

"Dr. House." House corrected her.

"Nooo." Brenda waved her head. "The package was clearly addressed to Dr. Cuddy..." She looked at her boss. "It´s on your desk."

House rolled his eyes arrogantly and snorted. "May be... But now she is Dr. Hou-"

"Thanks Brenda..." Cuddy cut him off rudely, nodded gracefully at her assistant and turned around to make her way to her office...

* * *

Ten minutes later Cuddy sat behind her desk and stared in bewilderment at the box nestled on her desk in-between the weekly memos and her keyboard.

Calling cards

10.000. calling cards. At least.

Waving her head she played with the card between her fingers, then put it aside to dispel the whole box.

'Dr. Lisa House' was written on every card in clear letters. Nothing more. Just those three words on. Every. Single. Card.

On the bottom of the box she found a small handwritten note.

_'Congratulations, you survived two month of marriage' _stood there in House´s lousy script. Cuddy smiled. She put all cards but one back into the box. The remaining card she put into her briefcase together with House´s note.

* * *

Wheow! Am I fast or am I fast? Don´t answer that, it´s a retorical question *giggles*

GREAT THANKS to RogueButterfly for betaing this time and for making it possible that I can update today. My regular beta is pretty busy this times so I asked RogueButterfly to help me out... Well, she betaed this little piece in like one hour. Isn´t she gorgeous? (yeah, a retorical question again ^-^)

THANKS to all of you for keeping me high on reviews. I´m like walking on fluffy clouds here, thank you so much.

ADDITIONS:

For all who wonder like Sab (Thanks for your review, by the way!): I chose 'snow queen' as House´s nickname for Cuddy cause she calls him 'heart'. The snow queen is a person out of Hans Christian Andersen´s fairy tale 'The snow queen'. The snow queen is really evil and forces a young boy to fall in love with her by planting a splint of her broken magic-mirror in his heart. 'Snow white' is a princess out of a fairy tale from the Grimm brothers.

SOME BRIBING AND SOME BAD NEWS

I promise to give everyone who reviews (review please and let me stay on my cloud please! Pretty please?) a preview on chapter eight (that was the bribing-part. Well and the begging part too. ^-^) but I probably will not be able to update this story for two weeks (yeah, this are the bad news...) because university will start tomorrow again and I´m afraid it will keep me really busy. I´m sorry.


	8. Confrontation part one

Hi there!

I´m sorry it took me so long to finally post something to this story again, but I´m pretty busy right now. This is the first half of the eighth chapter, chapter eight is rather long and takes me like forever to translate it, but because I promised you an update, I decided to at least give you the first half of it.

THANKS so much to RougeButterly who took the time to beta it in such a hurry. You´re great!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Confrontation; Part one**  
Thursday morning

"Can I talk to you for a moment, my heart?" Smiling, her hands behind her back Cuddy stood in House´s office doorway.

A bit confused, but keen to keep a straight face, House turned to face her. "Sure." he mumbled.

Foreman, Chase and Cameron, who had been talking to House about their last patient prior to Cuddy´s somewhat surprising choice in words, stared at her in utter bewilderment.

"Great." Ignoring all the irritated faces, Cuddy smiled satisfied and strode over the floor to his smaller office.

"My heart?" House asked quietly, arching a brow, as soon as he closed the glass door to the reference room behind him.

"Wanted to give those nick names another try..." Cuddy grinned some more. "Was it good for you?"

"Would´ve been better, if you had been naked..."

She laughed and pulled her hands from behind her back, so the small box, she held in her right hand, became visible. "Here. For you." Smiling she handed him the box. "Congrats to surviving two month of marriage...", she repeated the words from his note.

"Let me guess: An emergency med-kit?" Suspicious House took the little box and shook it slightly. "Hm, it´s to light for a med-kit... band-aids, maybe?"

"Open it up and find out..." Provoking, she arched a brow. "If you dare to..."

"Why do I suddenly feel the strong urge to throw it in the garbage, hide behind my desk and scream: 'BOMB!'?" His eyes fixated on her face, he opened the box without hesitating. "A tie?"

"You can wear it to the charity-dinner..." She shrugged her shoulders relaxed.

"Charity-dinner?" Frowning House eyed her warily. "But I just saved a life... Wasn´t that charitably enough?" He leaned his cane against the wall to cross his arms in front of his chest fending.

"House, that wasn´t charitably , that was your job."

"The dinner isn´t charitably too... It´s a torture!" With his right hand he hold the tie up. "Piece of evidence A!"

She arched a brow. "The tie?"

"Pfft, Cuddy. Don´t act so naïve." He rolled his eyes. "That´s not only a tie. It´s the leash, you want to lead me around like a performing dog on Saturday..."

Cuddy giggled. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Forman, Chase and Cameron staring at them through the glass walls with obvious curiosity... Time for some fun. She stepped closer to House and looked up to him under her long eyelashes. "This torture is nothing compared to what I do to you, if you don´t go."

"What do you want to do bout it?" House asked interested. "Spank me, maybe?"

"Not a bad idea..." She wrapped her arms around his neck, tiptoed and kissed his throat.

House drew in a gulp of air, which proved to be a bad idea as her scent tickled his air ways and infiltrated his brain. "Cuddy... what?" Against his skin, her lips curled into a smile. Déjà-vu. What was wrong with this woman, damn it? This was the second time within two days that she'd ravished him...

"Your team is watching us..." Cuddy mumbled against his throat. "I don´t want them to notice that we´re arguing..."

"We're…uh..arguing?" He glanced at his team, before Cuddy drew his attention back to the task at hand. The tie fell to the floor as both hands made their way to her hips.

"Of course..." She snuggled against him. Her hands embraced his face, gently stroking his cheekbones with her thumbs. "Because of that fundraiser, remember?"

"No..." He cleared his throat. "Just that you suddenly started to make out with me, so I assumed we made up and I won."

"Nope." She started to trace tiny tender kisses on his chin. "We´re" Kiss. "Still" Kiss. "Arguing." Kiss. "Making out." Kiss. "Is just a camouflage..." Her sweet breath grazed his mouth. "Is that a problem for you?"

"No prob..." His hands wandered to the swell of her buttocks.

"So we agree, you'll go with me to the fundraiser?"

Before he could answer her, her lips were above his and sealed his mouth in a breathtaking kiss. It took him a few minutes till he could bring himself to part from her. "I thought, we were still discussing this?" he asked panting against her lips.

"No. "No. I won." she stated, lingering on his lower lip.

House leaned back and arched a brow above hazed eyes. "When?"

Smirking cheekily Cuddy looked at him. "I won since you laid your hands on my ass..." She moved her hips against his. "You´re much more interested into making out with me than in making up, so you don´t really have a chance of winning this argument..."

His other brow joined the first. "So we're only making out now?" he assured himself. "No longer arguing and making up just kissing and making out?"

"No need to make out any longer either." Cuddy said. "I got what I wanted..." Grinning she let go of him and attempted to take a step backwards but his hands on her ass prevented her from doing so.

He bent down to her. "We could discuss..." he whispered before he nibbled on her ear lope. This game could be played by two. " ...the ten clinic-duty-hours I still owing you for the last week"

Snorting, she tilted her head, searching for his mouth, while her arms embraced his neck again. "Ten hours?" Her lips brushed his. "I should make them fifteen..."

"Ok..." He kissed her passionately.

"Ok?" Cuddy broke the kiss and smiled against his mouth. "Wow, that was easy... I should kiss you more often..."

"But later please!" Wilson's grinning voice cut through the oblivious wall they'd built up. "Here are children reside..." Smirking broadly he leaned against the door frame and nodded slightly to the bigger office, wherein House´s team was still standing and watching the scene in the smaller office. In his hands Wilson held a massive package with a big red bow on it.

House´s face darkened. "I hope this is for us." he growled and gestured at the package, while Cuddy stepped away from him. "Because a gift would be the only excuse for an interruption."

"Of course it's for you..." Wilson explained, carrying the heavy package to House's desk and placing it down. "The two months are over."

"The espresso-machine!" House´s eyes brightened up. With surprising tempo, he grabbed his cane and limped to the desk, opening it quickly.

Shaking her head Cuddy watched him. "Did you really need to give him that thing during work?" Cuddy asked Wilson. "Now he only will play with it for the rest of the day..."

"Why not?" Relaxed Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "He solved his new case ten minutes ago... And _that thing_ will keep him from annoying us because he feels bored."

Cuddy snorted before she turned around and strode to the door. "I need to go... Have serious work to do..." With those words she left Wilson and House alone with the espresso-machine.

"Seems to work out fine between you two..." Wilson recommended as soon as Cuddy was gone.

"Hm..." House growled without looking up from the espresso-machine. "Cameron is already over-excited from all this loving harmony."

"Sure, Cameron." Wilson nodded knowingly. "You´re totally unaffected from that, of course... Did you notice that you smile like four times more often since your marriage with Cuddy than you did before?"

"Four times more often?" Now he looked at him.

"Fore times more often." Wilson repeated.

"You´re talking such bullshit, Wilson..."

"Just keep telling yourself that, dude. Just keep telling yourself that..."

* * *

Feedback is much appreciated as always!


	9. Confrontation part two

**Chapter 8: Confontation; Part two**

Saturday, early in the evening

Cranky House stood in Cuddy´s bedroom, already wearing his suit. They had still one hour left before that damn fundraiser would start. One. Whole. Hour. Unnerved he gritted his teeth. "That dress makes your ass look even fatter..." he told Cuddy who was in the bathroom while he tried to do up his tie, eyebrows set into a deep frown.

"You don't even know, which dress I'm wearing..." Cuddy replied rushing from the bathroom. "You don't have the x-ray vision, have you? Besides you love my ass and you know it."

House laughed quietly. She was right, he had a sweet-spot for her ass... That was a fact well-known even before their marriage, so he did´t even try to deny it... Instead he just ignored her comment. "I don´t care which dress you´re wearing, Cuddles." he explained to her loudly. "Whichever it is it´s the wrong one... So change it. Then you should change your dress again. And again. And again. And again... Or I could just go and obtain you a new one..."

"You want to obtain a new dress for me?" Cuddy asked amused.

"Sure, why not? As a medical practitioner I´m capable of remembering your body-proportions exactly."

"Of course, as a medical practitioner." Cuddy threw in. "And as a guy who spends most of his work time staring at those body-proportions."

Another comment House decided to ignore. "Sure, obtaining that dress would take some time... Presumably till... hm..." He pretended to consider how long he probably would be away. It´s a pity that Cuddy couldn´t see his thinking-face through the wooden bathroom door. She would´ve been impressed by his actor-skills for sure. "I think, I could be back till midnight with the prettiest, ass-caressing dress, that the world ever did see."

"But then we would miss the fundraiser..."

"Seriously?" House faked astonishment. "Such a shame..." he smirked.

She should stop this bullshit now, she knew. She should stop playing games with him and tell him straight away that he would go with her to that fundraiser anyway... But she didn´t want to. She enjoyed the game too much. Grinning Cuddy took her favorite lip stick. "And why would it take you like half of the day to buy one dress?"

"Not 'buying', Cuddles. '_Obtaining_'. I would go, try to find a good faerie and if I find one, I would use one of my three wishes for the perfect dress for you..." he explained demonstratively serious. "Finding a good faerie needs time..."

"A good faerie, egh?" Cuddy grinned so hard, that she had problems putting her lip stick on straight.

"Or a djinn... Whomever I find first..."

She snorted amused. "I´m sorry to crash your illusions, House." she said then and opened the bathroom door. "But djinns and good fairies are just like Santa Claus and the brownies non-existing..."

"Damn." House answered smirking. "Then I probably will never find a dress, that..." He had intended to add something funny but nasty bout her ass but the sight of her as she stepped out of the bathroom in a long red silky dress, took his breath away. Speechless he absorbed her appearance with wide eyes.

"That good?" Triumphantly Cuddy put her hands on her hips. "If it knocks you for a loop, I must look stunning."

"Damn, Cuddy." His gaze sweeping from her red stilettos up her small waist, lingering on her cleavage and stopping as his eyes met hers. " Why don't we just donate your dress and stay home? I can help you take it off..."

Laughing Cuddy shook her head.

* * *

One and an half hour later they were already surrounded by least hundred other people in their finest clothes.

"Why don´t you get us something to drink?" Cuddy asked House and placed one hand on his arm.

House arched a brow. "Why don´t you get us something?"

Cuddy smirked. "Because you´re such a caring husband, remember?"

"But I´m a _crippled_ caring husband." With still arched brow, House drummed his cane slightly on the floor to underline his statement. "So why don´t you, the caring wife with two healthy legs, bring forth the alcohol?"

"Lisa!" an elder fat woman in a peppermint-green dress cut in suddenly and strode towards Cuddy and House.

"Oh damn..." Cuddy sighed quietly and forced herself to smile. Margret Hopkins. A rich bored lady who always tried to make a match between Cuddy and one of her male kinsfolk... Her hand closed around House´s arm in a strong grip. "House, I get the drinks, if you talk to Hopkins for me..."

House snorted and freed his arm from her grip grinning. "No chance, Cuddy..." Before Margaret reached Cuddy, House had limped off with surprising speed for a crippled caring husband...

* * *

One hour and ten boring discussions with other donors later, House and the drinks were still missing... What took him so long? Cuddy gritted her teeth. Supposedly he somehow managed to smuggle his game boy in here and was now hiding somewhere to murder trolls or something on that tiny screen... Therewith he would ruin his eyes someday... Provided that she wouldn´t find him and scratch his eyes out before...

"Is it hot in here or is this just you?" a familiar male voice interrupted her thoughts. Cuddy suppressed an unnerved groan before she turned around with a friendly smile on her lips to face Ian McBride. She couldn´t believe that he actually used the same dense patter on her twice in a row... "Ian McBride!"

"Lisa!" he smiled brightly and placed a generous filled champagne glass in her hand. "So, how is the most beautiful woman in this room feeling?"

Wow, a repeating again... The man owned even less style than she'd assumed... "Fine." she replied. Her chin started to cramp from all the fake-smiling... House would pay, she decided cranky... If he was here right now, she wouldn't have to deal with this idiot... Why do you get a fake-husband, when he isn't even around to chase unwanted admirers away? "I'm looking for my husband." she stated still smiling. "Did you see him?" Innocently she gazed up at him.

"Your husband?" Irritated Ian let his left hand sink, which he had raised before to touch Cuddy´s hair. "You´re married?"

"Yes!" she nodded enthusiastically and showed him the golden ring previously belonging to Houses grandmother on her left hand, then she spotted House - of course without any drinks - limping towards them as she glanced over Ian´s shoulder. Her eyes brightened in sight of her near salvation. "There he comes." She threw him a kiss.

Ian turned around and frowned slightly as he recognized House. "That is your husband?" he asked in disbelief.

"Isn´t he gorgeous?" Cuddy asked back happily and gifted House with a love drunk smile. She would let him pay for that later too, that was for sure...

Ian arched a brow arrogantly. "Well..." Apparently he had recovered from his shock. What a pity... "Somehow I doubt that.." He turned to Cuddy and looked her deep in the eye. "...that this cripple is able to satisfy you..."

Stunned Cuddy stared at him as his words sunk in. He hadn´t said that. He. Had. NOT. Said that.

That smudgy grin on his face told her otherwise. Best Cuddy had hit him. Forget the damn money, she didn´t care any longer. No one was allowed to talk about her husband like that.

But before she could mutilate Ian, House, who missed Ian´s last sentence, arrived at them and wrapped one arm possessively around Cuddy. "There you are, dear..." he purred and already prepared himself for being kicked from his loving wife because he had left her alone for so long but instead she snuggled up against him like a sweet warm soft toffee and greeted him with a kiss on the mouth.

"Hello my heart." she said tenderly then glared at Ian with icy eyes. "My husband never failed to satisfy me ever. Mr. McBride." she explained coolly, placed the champagne glass against her lips and emptied it with one single gulp. "And now, please excuse us." She pushed the empty glass in Ian´s free hand and smiled sardonically. "My husband and I missed the opportunity to screw in an elevator earlier, we'd best get to that."

* * *

"Sex in the elevator, ehg?" Grinning House supported himself with his left hand on the elevator wall, against which Cuddy leaned. With his right hand he pressed his cane near to Cuddy´s hip against the wall too, so Cuddy was kind of trapped between his arms. A fact that Cuddy was aware of, but which didn´t really bother her at all. Instead of she enjoyed his scent filling her nostrils and the warmth of his body so close to hers. He had something calming. He always had... Yes he annoyed her pretty often and most times she would love to straggle him, but always when something made her really angry, or scared; he succeeded with the same annoying manner, which she damned on normal days, to soothe her.... A fact, of which House will hopefully never be aware of...

"I was angry..." she explained relaxing somewhat, although her eyes still burned fire at the memory of Ian's infamy.

"Why?" House prodded for information, bent down and breathed in the sweet scent of her hair.

"He talked bad about you..." Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "Nobody talks bad about my husband scot-free."

House snorted. Yeah, right. Somebody talked bad bout him and that caused her to suggest sex in an elevator with him. He smirked. For sure that wasn´t the only reason... "You always talk bad about me..." he uttered quietly kissing her throat, her chin. Her mouth.

"Yes..." she mumbled distracted from his lips. Her eyelashes fluttered closed. "But I love you, that´s something different..."

In a flash he had straightened up and removed back his hands from the wall like they'd been scorched. "Don't say that..." His voice was as blank as his face.

"What?" Confused she blinked at him.

"We´re without audience here." he stated coolly. "So you don´t need to say it. It´s pointless. " The elevator stopped and House left without looking at Cuddy, while she stood still speechless in the elevator.

The doors had closed behind him and the lift started to move again, as Cuddy realized what she just had uttered to House, she loved him.

Damn.

* * *

THANKS again to RougeButterfly for being such a fantastic beta.

And a big fat THANK YOU to Di-Bee for encouraging me so much and for being so curious about my story. She asked and asked me about it till I translated the ninth chapter for her too (So you won´t need to wait for it long... It just needs to be betaed ^-^) So this part of chapter eight is for her!

And thank you all for your kind reviews! I just love to recieve them. ^-^

Please be a doll and leave me a few lines. I just love to hear what you thought bout it. And finally I can promise everyone who reviews a nice long preview for chapter nine (Thanks to Di-Bee again. Isn´t she gorgeous? ^-^).


	10. In Between

**Chapter 9: In between**

Monday morning

In a rather bad mood House screeched his car in front of Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and got out, slamming the door behind him. The whole night had left him with little to no sleep... Thoughts spiraling through his mind in a tangled mess, never finding a solution or a means to forget them for a few hours – even playing his piano didn't help. Piano playing... Something he hadn't been able to do much since he married Cuddy. In the first place because Cuddy had no piano at her apartment and secondly because she had kept him too busy. With her demanding manner, her explosive temper, her stubbornness... Damn this woman for fascinating him like that. Damn her for telling him she loved him. And damn him, because he wanted her words so much to be true...

He was just about to lock the car as someone behind him suddenly spoke up: "Where´s Cuddy?"

House nearly dropped his car keys world leave me alone. "What?" In annoyance he turned around to glare at the idiotic marplot. Wilson. Of course. Who else? Crankily House glared at his best friend. Somehow he always succeeded in showing up at the most awkward moment.

"Where is Cuddy?" Wilson repeated and grinned, finding amusement in House's resentment.

House frowned. "How the hell should I know?"

Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "You two have been arriving here together..."

"That´s not true."

"True it is... Since you´re married, you both came here together every day..."

"No, we didn´t." House replied defiant. "The day I took my-"

"The day you took your parents to the airport, you didn´t arrive with her here, sure." Wilson cut in and rolled his eyes. "But aside from that you always arrived here together."

"Fine, smart ass." Now House rolled his eyes. "You caught me flat-footed... I was at my place... Met my favorite whore there... Somehow Cuddy still isn´t ready for a three-some..."

Confused Wilson looked at him. "You slept at your place? Not at Cuddy´s?"

"That´s what I said." House explained dryly. "Wow... I guess you´re the first deaf smart ass I had the honor to meet..." His voice was drowned in cynicism while House limped past Wilson to the hospital entrance.

"What did you do?" Worried Wilson frowned and followed him.

"What did _I_ do?" House snorted arrogantly. "Why does everybody always assume that I did something wrong?"

"Wilson arched a brow. "Is this a serious question?"

Without granting Wilson an answer House entered the hospital and limped towards the clinic.

"Where are you going?" Wilson wanted to know irritated, still following House. "You don´t have duty today."

"I want to call in sick tomorrow so I ´d rather today..."

"You´d 'rather'?" Unbelievably Wilson stopped and stared at him.

House opened the door to exam room two. "Yeah."

He nearly succeeded in closing the door in front of Wilson´s nose but his friend had really good reflexes this morning and slipped in the room too, where he went right away to the exam-table and settled down.

Sighing House limped to the only wheel chair in the room, snatched a file and started to read it, in hope Wilson would understand that 'subtile hint' and would go to annoy somebody else.

Leisurely Wilson made himself comfortable at the table. "So what´s going on?" he asked causally.

"Already told you that." House scrolled in his file. "Cuddy wasn´t ready for a three-some yet, so the whore and I-"

"You slept at your place!" Wilson interrupted crudely.

Unnerved House looked up from his file. "Because of the whore. Listen to me, man!"

"And" Wilson continued. "You want to do your clinic hours when you're not rostered because you'd rather?"

"What´s that?" Uncomprehending House shook his head slightly and pulled a face. "Why are you repeating every bit of information I've given you during the last ten minutes?"

"You never _rather_." Wilson rested his elbow upon his knee and bent towards House. "Normally we nearly must punish you to get you to work _at all_!"

House turned back to his file. "Presumably Cuddy´s 'good' influence." he growled. "All those fundraisers could make a mind weak... You should better avoid such events. Your Messiah-complex is already big enough..."

Suddenly Wilson´s eyes lightened up. "You´re _avoiding_ Cuddy! That´s why you´re here... You hide at the last place Cuddy would suspect you to be..." Wilson snorted amused. "Hell the last place _anybody_ would suspect you."

House sighed loudly. "I do not. Avoid. Cuddy, Wilson." he explained patiently as if he spoke to particularly dense child, or to a mentally retarded. Or with his unnerving best friend.

"Yes you do." Wilson grinned triumphantly.

"No, I don´t."

"You do!"

"I. Do. Not." House glared shortly at Wilson over his files.

Wilson just grinned some more. "You. Do."

This time House glared at Wilson a bit longer. "Cut that crap, Wilson." he gritted. "I master the 'I-repeat-my-statement-so-long-till-the-other-loses-his-patience'-method much better than you. I devised it."

"No, you don´t." Wilson´s eyes sparkled with enjoyment.

House eyes went small. "Wilson." His voice was dangerously low.

"There you got it!" Wilson triumphed and leaned back. "Something is bothering you. Otherwise you wouldn´t be so pissed off so easily..." Thoughtfully he rubbed his chin. "Normally I´m the pissed off one... But I prefer it like this." He smiled again.

House wished his looks had the might to kill. Or the might to burn someone down in tongues of flames... Or at least the might to give someone, uhm let´s say Wilson, the flu.

"If you tell me, I´ll give you a cookie."

Frustrated House considered shortly to defer hoping for a super-mighty look to later and instead to settle for the old fashioned way and to bash Wilson with his cane, but he only mumbled: "At least, you enjoy yourself..." and turned back to his file again.

"Tell me already." Wilson gave in eventually. "You know I´m just like you, when it comes to something like that. I won´t go, till you tell me."

Sighing heavy-hearted House bent his head deeper over his files. "Cuddy says, she loves me." He spoke so quietly, Wilson barely heard him.

Silently Wilson waited for House to continue.

"Saturday as we left that damn fundraiser, she told me... So I drove to my place..."

"Oh... I understand." Unsure Wilson nodded slightly and frowned. "The own wife saying, she loves you, could really burden a marriage..."

"I should´ve stuck to the whore-variant..." House growled.

"Made more sense to me..." Wilson mumbled. "Cuddy says, she loves you and you just run away?"

Finally House looked at him. "What was I supposed to do?" The helpless confusion in his voice seemed honest.

"Staying for example?" Wilson sighed. "Not freaking out and running away..."

"I didn´t freak-"

"You´re doing clinic-duty. _Voluntary_." Wilson cut in. "A clear sign for desperation."

House face went blank. "Now that we´re talking bout 'duty'... Don´t you have a job to do?" he asked sharply.

Wilson ignored him. "Why didn´t you stay?" he dug without remorse. "Why did you leave?"

"Shouldn´t you take care of a few _dying_ children?"

"Should I tell you, why you ran and hide?"

"Or some dying women?- Granting them a strong shoulder to rely on? Or a warm bed, maybe?" House suggested.

"You freaked out, because you were scared." Wilson bent forward again. "Because you were scared you could lose something, House."

"My countenance, maybe?" House arched a brow.

Wilson arched a brow also. "You feel something for Cuddy, House." His voice grew more and more demanding. "You feel something for her and now that she told you she loves you, where´s finally a chance for happiness for you both, you´re like frozen from fear and so you close up like an oyster. Like always."

"Now it happened!" With a loud bang House shut the file and rose from the chair.

"What? You connected with your inner-feelings?"

"Nope." House limped to the exit. "Lost my countenance..." Swiftly he opened the door, stepped out and freed the door at the same time so a large man around fifty in an ugly shirt, sweat scented and running red nose could enter the room. "Dr. Wilson will take good care of you..."

Confused the stranger watched House limping to exam room one before he looked at Wilson.

Beaten Wilson stood up from the exam table and fetched the file, which House had left on the wheel chair.

* * *

Monday afternoon

Wilson knocked at Cuddy´s door before he entered her office carrying to cups of coffee out of the Starbucks near by. "Hey."

"Hey..." Sighing Cuddy looked up from the mess of papers on her desk and pressed one hand against her aching forehead.

"Here." With a compassionate expression Wilson handed her one of the cups. "You look rather bad today..."

"Thanks so much, Wilson." Cuddy replied sarcastically but took the hot coffee gratefully. "You never fail to flatter a woman..."

Calmly Wilson sat down in front of her. "You told House you love him."

"Wow!" Coughing Cuddy tried to swallow the gulp of coffee, whereon she nearly choked, with much left grace as the could. "You´re abrupt today... Where´s this clumsy subtle manner we all love so much about you?"

Ignoring her cynicism, Wilson leaned back against his chair. "Were you serious? Do you love him?"

"Well, I was drunk..."

"No, you weren´t." Pitifully Wilson shook his head.

Cuddy could´ve puke. Or cry... Instead of she put on her loved 'I´m-the-boss'-mask and waited silently till Wilson spoke up again.

"What do you wanna do now?" he asked.

"Fire him?"

"Cuddy..."

She arched a brow. "Fire you?"

"Me?" Wilson dug confused.

"At the moment you´re much more annoying than him."

Wilson snorted. "He´s doing clinic duty." he said then.

"What?" Cuddy frowned in question.

"House." Wilson explained and observed Cuddys reaction attentively. "House is doing clinic duty voluntary."

"Therefore he gets paid..." Cuddy replied cooly.

"He isn´t on duty." he added. "He´s working _voluntary_."

Demonstratively untouched Cuddy shrugged her shoulders. "Finally all the fundraisers I forced him to go to kick in..." At the memory of saturday evening she bit down her bottom lip fighting against ascending tears. Damn... Her 'I´m-the-boss'-mask seemed to be damaged. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"Oh Cuddy..." Compassionate Wilson put his coffee aside and reached for Cuddy´s left hand, which clenched to a fist next to a few files, and caressed it slightly. Cuddy´s gaze avoided his. Ashamed she placed her cup on the desk and brushed the treasonable tear away with her right hand.

"He feels something for you too, Cuddy." he explained softly. "He just don´t know how to deal with it. So he does what he always does and acts like an idiot." He fondled her hand again. "Don´t let him screw it up, Cuddy."

Cuddy deprived him of her hand and crossed it with her right one in her lap.

* * *

Lethargic Cuddy nibbled at her coffee just to spill it back into the cup. It was totally cold... Damn. Wilson had left nearly thirty minutes ago, so she at least wasted half an hour with sitting at her desk and self-pitying... She shook her head with self-contempt.

Sitting here and telling herself over and over again, that confessing her love to House had been probably the most. The. Most. Stupidest thing she ever did in her whole life wouldn´t bring her forward... The only positive thing about it was that House, other than Wilson, didn´t took her seriously. Thank god. And the worst thing about it was, that she had meant every word she said. Every. Single. Word.

Damn.

Cuddy bit her lower lip.

She loved her husband.

Damn.

How the hell did that happen?

* * *

THANKS sooo much to RougeButterfly for betaing this so fast and well. You´re great!

And THANKS to you all for your great support and all your nice feedback. I´m so happy, you enjoyed this story so far.

BRIBE: As always: I´m weak and I´m a sucker for reviews, so I give everyone who reviews a little preview at chapter ten. I even let you chose, which preview you want. Which should it be?: A little scene from the following Tuesday or a small flashback to their wedding night?


	11. Fait Accompli

**Chapter 10: Fait Accompli**

Tuesday, early at the morning

For a few minutes she stirred absently in the gruel that was already cold, staring at the wall and thinking about House... She acted ridiculous, she knew it but couldn't help herself. Fine, she loved House. But that wasn't the end of the world, was it?

Cuddy snorted self ironically.

Hell, of course it was the end of the world! All her illusions about her own perfect future life were suddenly shaken upside down and her once peaceful, security-giving fantasy of a marriage with a kind, nice, solid husband seemed now insipid and boring. Even the idea of living together with a man, who didn't make her want to straggle him from time to time cause his ridiculous manner annoyed the hell out of her, was now absurd.

If she pictured her future life now, she saw House and her within an argue, or how she challenged his mind with some bullshit she just made up cause she had been bored. She imagined herself and House sitting at her kitchen table talking about the hospital, about new cases... About reasons why Lucky Charms are at least a thousand times better than the grey slime from hell, like House liked to call it gruel... She imagined House and herself arguing in the clinic about a patient or about the new plasma-TV he wanted, while they both couldn't keep their hands of the other... She imagined- She _remembered_ the last weeks with him.

Cuddy fought back her tears. She wouldn't cry. She would. Not. Cry. Not again... Last night had been enough.

Tears wouldn't change anything anyway. Tears never changed anything. So she suppressed them and bravely choked down a spoon of gruel while she glared at the sugar pot all the time as if that poor thing was to blame for House's absence... As she said, she acted ridiculous... Had acted ridiculous as she told him, she loved him... What the hell had she been thinking?

She snorted again.

She had _not_ been thinking, that was what brought her all the trouble. She had been still angry with Ian... and at the same time House's nearness, his scent, his mouth, his kisses had distracted her. So she had rambled without further thinking...

Angry about herself, she shook her head.

She should've never told him that she loved him... Instead of she should've shut herself up by kissing him. Just like she had done on Tuesday. She should've stuck to her own advice and kiss him more often-

Suddenly Cuddy frowned.

Kissing House more often... That thought sparked something... Memories were tickled. And therewith she didn't mean the time last tuesday when she gave House the tie. No, these memories were much older...

* * *

Two month ago, Saturday night

Sweating and breathing heavy he laid upon her, pressing her into the soft mattress of the hotel bed with his weight while tracing her face with tiny kisses. House kissed her chin, her nose, her eyelids... God, he felt so good. Cuddy hid her face in his neck, her arms still wrapped tight around his body, trying to pull him even closer and inhaled his scent deeply. He smelled like heaven! She pressed an open kiss on his throat which made him moan huskily. Slightly he tilted his head, searched her mouth with his own. Tenderly she kissed him.

"I love you." House mumbled quietly, nearly audible against her lips.

"What?" Confused she opened her eyes and stared at the deep blue of his own.

"You kissed me!" he defended himself and tried to part from her but she just held on to him even tighter. No way she would let go of him now. No way.

"And that's why you love me?" she dug and smiled, drunk from the champagne. And from happiness.

"That's why I said it..." he growled. She kissed him again before he continued. "And because we are married..." She smiled against his mouth and nibbled at his bottom lip. "...because we were drunk..." he added. "And because you kissed me..."

Self satisfied Cuddy took his face between both her hands and looked at him grinning.

"What?" Slightly suspicious he frowned.

"I think I should kiss you more often." she replied and put that new awareness into action immediately.

* * *

Tuesday morning

Damn.

Bolting upright Cuddy sat in her chair.

That bastard!

* * *

Tuesday evening

Crankily House entered his apartment and dropped his keys at the commode before he closed the door behind him with a loud bang. Jaded and exhausted he limped towards his living room in which he had placed a bottle of whiskey and a water glass on his living room table. He intended anyway to drink the whole bottle so why delay the inevitable by using a tinier glass? At least he could count on his best friend, his NEW best friend, Johnnie Walker... House entered his living room. Johnnie would never let him down or annoy him with silly questions. No, not Johnnie. Johnnie would never do such things... Where the hell was Johnnie? Frowning House stared at the empty table in disbelief. Johnnie and the water glass were nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for something special?" a familiar female voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.

"Cuddy." Automatically his body tensed. Just under much pressure, he forced himself to face her. She stood in the kitchen doorway, a water glass filled with a transparent fluid, possibly his whisky, in her hand. Great, Johnnie let him down too. Just perfect...

Damn, she looked pretty. Without any make up, wearing some old jeans and that ugly old shirt she loved the most, she stood in front of him and just looked at him. Best he would have loved to turn around and drive back to the hospital. Or to a bar, where he could've drink as much whiskey till he would've forgotten how she looked... Best he'd grabbed her and kissed her till they both couldn't breath any longer...

His left hand clenched around his cane. "What do you want here, Cuddy?" he forced himself to ask.

Relaxed she arched a brow. "What are you doing here?" she shot back.

"I live here?" he replied with obvious sarcasm and limped towards her.

"Your shift will first be over in two hours." Attentively she watched him.

House snorted, shook his head slightly, took her glass out of her hand and emptied it with one gulp. Johnnie... He had known it. She didn't even flinch as he touched her. Damn, he had hoped to intimidate her with his nearness, to bring her to step off so he could save his face... But instead she stayed calm and collected, looking at him while his hand started shaking. Damn, why was she so relaxed? And why couldn't he be so calm also? "Why are you here, Cuddy?" His voice left no doubt that he didn't want her to be here. It was nearly filled with resentment.

She snatched her glass, placing her hand above his and looking him in the eye. "You love me, House." Although she nearly whispered her voice sounded strong and demanding.

The glass blasted into thousand pieces as House let go of it abruptly to hide from Cuddy's touch. "That's not the point." he grumbled similar quietly. His gaze avoided hers and concentrated on the tiny shards of glass on the floor.

"Yes it is-" She took a step towards him, seeking his nearness with which he had tried to scare her off and which now frightened him like hell. Her scent filled his nostrils and befogged his mind... Created unwanted pictures of himself and Cuddy and the way it could've been if they both just-

He bared himself to finish this thought. Wishful thinking never lead to anything useful. Only to pain. And pain he already had enough.

"It's not, Cuddy..." he replied and flinched again as she placed both her hands on his chest. Shocked he looked at her.

"You love me, House..." Her face was so soft and open and scared him even more than her touch.

"But-"

"You do, House." she interrupted him gently and smiled hesitantly. "And I love you-"

If it hadn't been so damn pathetic, he had covered his ears with his hands. "Don't say that." he begged silently. She killed him. Every time she said it, she killed him. Why did she do that? Why did she say it after all? He knew- They both knew that she didn't mean it... Not like she must mean it to stay married with him... But honestly: Who could mean it like that?

"I love you." she repeated stubbornly. Her hands wandered slowly, like naturally, to his neck.

"No you don't..." Shaking his head heavy he grabbed her wrists, shoved her hands away and stepped back.

"You asshole." she hissed angrily and freed her wrists with one single move just to hit his chest with her fists.

Motionless he stood there, concentrating on the hollow pain her strength less hands caused him. As he said. Wishful thinking only lead to pain. His gaze fixated the wall behind her.

Best she'd hit him again, hurt him like he hurt her and try to beat some sense into him, to force him to see that she meant it... A hopeless undertaking without any doubt. So she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, remembering that Saturday two months ago. She recalled the expression on his face as he had told her, he loved her. Remembered the two month of their marriage and assured herself that they both were serious about it. Even if he still was to stubborn to accept it.... But she would take care of that tiny problem.

"You damned self-righteous asshole!" Cursing she took his face between her hands and forced him to look at her. "I love you." she exclaimed with serious voice. "And if I can live with that fact, you stubborn pig head, then you get used to it too, understood?" Without letting him the chance to answer she kissed him. Pressed all her love for him in that kiss to convince him at least with her actions if her words failed him.

First his body went totally tense, next his cane hit the floor with a loud bang and his arms looped around her like vices, pulling her so close that not even a page of paper had fitted between them. Passionately he answered her kiss, took over the control till she snuggled against him like warm wax, weak from longing.

"Say it again." he demanded breathless as he eventually broke the kiss.

"You damned self-righteous asshole?" Smiling she kissed that little recess on the right side of his nose.

"No..." Impalpably he shook his head. "that you love me..." He pressed his lips against the left corner of her mouth.

"I thought" she kissed him slightly. "I shouldn't say that any more?" Tenderly she caressed the warm skin in his neck with her right hand.

"Changed my mind." he replied hoarse. He needed to hear it again. Needed to assure himself that she was serious. Besides... If she hadn't been serious she hadn't called him a damned self-righteous asshole for sure. His heart skipped a beat at the memory of her angry face, as he had tried to get rid of her. She would've never been this angry if she wouldn't love him. Thank god she was so damn stubborn... "Say it again."

"Ok" Cuddy giggled amused and traced happy tiny kisses all over his face, caressed every inch she could reach. "I love you." His right cheekbone. "I love you." His nostril. "I love you." The corner of his mouth. ""I love you." His mouth. His mouth again.

Satisfied his lips twitched in a smile. "Cuddy?" he asked after another deep kiss.

"Hm?" she mumbled against his throat, distracted by his hands who gently caressed her lower back.

"I love you too."

Cuddy smirked. "I know..." she mumbled and deeply inhaled his scent. "You already told me... On our wedding night..." she bit his left ear lope.

"Ouch!" House whined. "Why did you do-"

"Because you left on Saturday although you love me!" she bit him again. "Don't you dare to do something like that again." she whispered in his ear warningly. "You're mine."

House snorted amused. "I am _yours_?"

"Yeah." She nodded slightly and then soothingly kissed his aching ear lope. "Did you truly believe, that you were the only one of us who's possessive?"

* * *

*snif* this was the last real chapter of my story. Hope you liked it.

THANKS to Melissa and Rougebutterfly for their fantastic beta-servises!

THANKS to you all again for your great support, I LOVE those reviews you sent me.

Sorry, no BRIBE this time... I haven´t even started to translate the epilog. But I will give everyone who reviews a personal promise, that I hurry up with translating ^-^

PS: Uhm... I delated my stories 'The Sixth Sense', 'Three Scars' and 'Self-control' yesterday. Because my own crazy idea of writing a long completed story for my grandma to christmas (yeah, this one here ^-^), kept me to busy to work on them. Today I finally found time to take a look at them again and decided that all three need a make-over... Maybe I will rewrite them, when I find the time and post them again. - What is your opinion? Should I give them another try? Would love to read your thoughts on that in a PM?


	12. Two normal Saturdays

**Epilogue: Two normal Saturdays**

Six weeks before, Saturday night

Her hands were dug deep in the large pockets of her coat as Cuddy walked slowly next to House down the strip back to their hotel. It wasn't so far away so House had suggested to walk and because he was the one with the crippled leg, she had agreed.

Everything sparkled so beautifully in Vegas, she thought. Especially when it was night in Vegas... Normally the night made everything gray and fuzzy... But not in Vegas. In Vegas it was as if the night would first bring the city to it's full brightness. Lovingly the darkness covered the mess and the dirt and just left the sparkling shine and the glamor... Cuddy snorted self-ironically. All it needed was two bottles of champagne to make her philosophic... Her gaze fell on a couple, which came directly out of one of the many weird wedding-chapels along the strip. They wore plastic-ears, long dark-green robes and a happy smile on their faces. Cuddy sighed silently.

"I think I will never marry..." she said thoughtlessly. "I´m too complicated... too strong... too weird..." In her voice there laid the kind of vulnerability which only came with two bottles champagne. She shoved her hands even deeper in her pockets.

"I would marry you." House grumbled concentrating his gaze at the strip in front of him.

"Sure..." Cuddy snorted again, this time sarcastically. "You're even more complicated and crazy than I am..." She laughed bitterly. They both had too much to drink today....

"We would be the perfect match..."

Silently House fell a few steps back and eventually stopped walking all together. Missing the steady sound of his cane clicking on the floor, Cuddy turned around to see why he stopped. She frowned as she spotted him next to a chapel which promoted to have the one and only Elvis hired as a priest. And a clearness, which surprised her in her state of drunkenness, floated along her champagne-drowned mind. "Are you serious?" Hesitantly she took a step towards him.

Still silent House looked her in the eyes. Just as she thought he would finally speak up, a loud male penetrating voice crashed that silent moment between the two of them: "Take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you." an old fat Elvis sung uncomfortably near to Cuddy´s ear and reached out for her hand to place a kiss on it before he let go of it again to pat House chummily on the shoulder.

House and Cuddy stared at the Elvis as if he would be an alcohol-induced hallucination. Cuddy wanted to rub her eyes in shock while House just blinked twice in hope to banish that surreal simulacrum.

But the fat Elvis not even thought bout vanishing. "A sweet lady you got there..." he stated instead, winking and patted House´s back again. "So take the chance and marry her before it´s to late and the King himself will not only bless your marriage – No! He even gives you a abatement because you would be the happy thousandth couple I would marry today..." Another back-patting. If he wouldn't´t be so shocked, House would´ve hit him for that with his cane.

Being totally overextended by that exuberantly fat Elvis, House stared at Cuddy. Speechlessly, they tried to blank out the Elvis for a moment...

Helpless and confused Cuddy shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Maybe it's fate..."

House arched a brow. "Fate appears as Elvis?"

"Sure." the Elvis cut in smirking. "At least I'm the King, the voice of god. And I tell you: Get married today!" He took Cuddy´s and House´s left hand and put them together.

House smiled hesitantly. "You can´t avoid fate anyway..."

Cuddy fondled his hand.

* * *

One year later, Saturday morning

"You do know," House said to his wife which just checked her hair do for the thousandth time on this beautiful Saturday morning. "That normally couples run off to marry in Vegas to avoid celebrating the wedding with a bunch of people you barely know let alone like?"

Cranky he loosened up his tie.

"Twenty persons are not a bunch of people, House..." Cuddy glanced at him over the mirror. "And stop tucking at your tie."

House rolled his eyes, but took his fingers from his tie. "That are ten times more guests than people that came to our first wedding!"

"Not true." She shoved an unruly curl back behind her left ear before she stood up and turned around to her husband.

"True it is, Cuddy... Just you and me which made two. And two multiplicand with ten are?"

"You forgot the Elvis's, House." Cuddy cut in smirking.

"_Elvis-ses?_" Questioning House arched a brow.

"Yeah..." Cuddy grinned some more and reached for his lose tie. "The fat old Elvis, who married us, the small Indian one, who guarded me to the altar and the fat young Elvis who sang 'Love me tender' after wards... So we were five persons at our first wedding, House. Not only the two of us." she looked at him in triumph. "Ergo your math doesn´t work out..." After tugging at his tie for a few minutes it sat perfectly again. Satisfied Cuddy licked her bottom lip. "Despite the fact that it would be a shame to call the wedding off after we already paid for it."

"It's never to late for smart decisions!" With one hand he grabbed the knot of his tie.

"House, we marry in ten minutes. Beside that we already paid for everything..." She pushed his hand away. "And our insurance doesn´t cover for a groom with cold feet."

Unnerved House rolled his eyes. "First: I'm not having cold feed I only don´t want to be married by a hypocritical priest-"

"Magistrate, House. We´re getting married by a magistrate."

"Fine, for all I care by a hypocritical magistrate, who has no knowledge bout a marriage-"

"Unlike priests, magistrates are allowed to marry, House..."

"Could you please stop to interrupt me?" Frustrated he loosened up his tie again.

"As soon as your argumentation makes sense."

"Very generous..." He swerved her hands skilled, as she tried to adjust his tie once more.

"So, where did I stop? Ah, there: First I don´t want to be married by a hypocritical magistrate..."

"That argument is still illogical..."

This time House ignored her. "And second: I´m not that interested in money..."

"Pfft, not that interested..." Cuddy put her hands in her hips and gifted him with a glare.

"Didn't seem that way as it came to your contract extension with the hospital..."

"Could you be a bit more specific?"

"You let Stacy conducting pay negotiations!"

"But not because of the money, Cuddles..." He looked at her as if he really would pity her for her mental derangement. "But to avoid a conflict of interests..." he explained very slowly. "Because you're my wife but also my boss, you know? That my content is higher now is just a byproduct of my emotional insecurity."

Arrogantly arching her brow, Cuddy snorted. "Funny that this 'conflict of interests' didn´t bother you, as you screwed me in my office...", she replied sarcastically.

"I have to admit, that this situation confused me actually a bit..." House smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "I never could be sure, if I was having sex with my wife or working overtime with my boss..."

"Poor darling..." She gifted him with a perfect faked pity-filled look and patted his arm soothingly.

"Yeah, sure. Make fun of the poor cripple..." House pouted but couldn´t suppress another grin. "I think you owe me to repeat that situation very soon to help me to get over my trauma..."

"Is that your opinion as a doctor?" Smiling she fondled his arm with hand, which slowly wandered to his tie.

"Yes it is." He took her hand off of his tie and pressed a kiss on it.

Giggling Cuddy tiptoes and kissed him quickly on the mouth. "I want to adjust your tie, House."

Sighing he let go of her hand. "Tell me again why I´m doing this here." he demanded with a whining voice.

"Because you love me?" Concentrated Cuddy tucked on his tie.

"And?"

"Isn´t real love enough?" Amused Cuddy looked into his eyes.

House rolled his eyes. "That´s why I stay married with you. But why do I need to marry you again?"

"Because our parents will stop bugging us because they missed our first wedding?"

"I don´t care... We barely met them..."

"Hm... maybe because of all the presents?" Cuddy suggested.

House eyes brightened up. "Tell me more."

"About the presents?" Smirking Cuddy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again...

"Hey hey hey!" Wilson´s voice cut through their tenderness. "Take your hands off the bride, House... You can make out with her AFTER the wedding for the rest of your life."

Smirking Wilson leaned against the door frame in the now wide opened door.

"You're such a pain in the ass..." House growled frustrated and glared at his best friend and groomsman.

"I learned from the master..." Untouched Wilson crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So, are you ready?"

"Yeah." Cuddy placed a tiny kiss on House´s chin. "Tell the magistrate, we´re coming..."

"Alright..." Wilson was just about to close the door behind him as House called after him: "Oh, Wilson?"

He turned around again. "Yes?"

"What are you giving us?" House raised a brow in question while Cuddy gave House poked his side with her elbow, but he ignored her.

"You already got the espresso machine..." Grinning Wilson gazed at House for a last time.

"Damn, Cuddy." Wilson heard House growl before the door closed between them. "Woe betide my team if they give me a med-kit again!"

* * *

**WHOAH! Finally complete!** Hopefully you guyes enjoyed this little epilogue.

Thanks to Melissa for her wonderfully beta-service once again. And Thank you all for your great encouragement during this little story! I really appreciated that and I would love to hear your thoughts on this last chapter, so please be kind and leave a review.


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